US Deputy Assistant Secretary: US does not support ´Tibetan independence´

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During the meeting with officials from the US Department of State, Tenzinchodrak talked about religious freedom in Tibet. He said freedom of religious belief is written in the Chinese Constitution. He said that Tibet now has more than 17-hundred religious sites, with about 46-thousand monks and nuns.

Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak (R), a living Buddha of the Kagyu  sect of the Tibetan Buddhism and vice chairman of the  Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tibet  Autonomous Region of China, meets with Mark Kirk (L2)  and Rick Larsen (L1), co-chairmen of the U.S.-China  Working Group in the House, in Washington, the  United States, March 17, 2009. Mark Kirk and Rick Larsen,  co-chairmen of the U.S.-China Working Group, met here on  Tuesday with a five-member delegation of Tibetan deputies  of China's National People's Congress, led by Shingtsa  Tenzinchodrak. (Xinhua Photo)

In response to questions about the March 14th riots in Lhasa last year, Tenzinchodrak said the incident was by no means a "peaceful protest." He noted that at least 18 civilians were killed and many houses and stores were burned.