China's latest missive: Dalai Lama is backing TERRORISM

Slamming the Dalai Lama for conducting prayers for the Buddhist monks who had immolated themselves protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, China on Thursday said his support amounted to backing "terrorism in disguise".

Condemning the self-immolations by nine monks over the last few months including by a nun on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a media briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that the Dalai Lama is glorifying self-immolations, inciting more people to commit suicide.

"In the wake of the incidents, overseas Tibet independent forces and the Dalai group did not criticise the cases," Jian said, adding, "On the contrary, they beautified, played up such issues to incite more people to follow suit. As we know, such splittist activities at the cost of human lives are violence and terrorism in disguise."

Jiang was replying to questions over reports that the Tibetan spiritual leader fasted and conducted prayers for them at his exile in Dharmashala.

On Monday, the London based 'Free Tibet' campaign group said Tenzin Wangmo, 20, immolated herself on the same day in Aba prefecture, a mainly ethnic Tibetan part of the southwestern province of Sichuan, calling for religious freedom in Tibet and for the return of the Dalai Lama.

This was the ninth such immolation in recent months.

The Free Tibet group said in a statement that protests have been reported in the surrounding region and calls for wider protests are growing. The group added that two persons were wounded in police firing.

On Tuesday, another foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said, "We believe that promoting and encouraging harm to life is immoral".