VILNIUS - Conservative politicians threw their weight behind the Tibetan cause when they urged Lithuanian leaders to speak out against Communist China.
The board of the Homeland Union is regretful that neither the Lithuanian president nor the governement made any statement denouncing China or voiced their attitutude on participation in the Olympic Games or their separate events. We urge the Lithuanian president and the government to state their position to make appropriate evaluations of China's actions," a document approved on March 30 in the party's board meeting reads.
Activist groups have been holding rallies outside the Chinese Embassy in Vilnius, however Lithuanian leaders haven't released any statements on the issue to date. The deafening silence of Lithuania's national leaders on the Tibetan question is all the more strange, Conservative politicans believe, because Lithuania's own history of long occupation by a foreign power shares similarities with the situation in Tibet. This is in stark contrast to the situation in Estonia where Foreign Minister Urmas Paet spoke out against the violence and urged the Chinese government to use peaceful means to deal with the unrest.
Riots against China's rule in Tribet broke out on March 14. There were clashes between Tibetans and Chines police as well as army units. Peaceful protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa turned into a riot and later spread to other parts of the region.
