China howls but Dalai Lama draws crowd at human rights talk
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The Dalai Lama has appeared at a Geneva human rights conference, despite China's plea to diplomats to stay away from his appearance.
Diplomats say China's U.N. mission in Geneva circulated a letter to other missions this week requesting them to avoid the Tibetan spiritual leader's appearance at a conference built around Nobel peace prize winners and co-sponsored by the United States and Canada.
Hundreds of supporters of the Dalai Lama, some waving Tibetan flags, rallied at the giant three-legged chair landmark outside the U.N. as he attended the packed-house conference nearby at Geneva's Graduate Institute. The number of diplomats in the throng was unclear.
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On Thursday, the U.S. and 11 other Western countries expressed concerns about human rights in China at the Human Rights Council.