Chinese celebrities warned of mixing with exiled Tibetans

BEIJING, China – China’s state media have criticized celebrities for attending an event in northern India with members of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

An article on China Tibet Online this week that was widely carried by other state media said there was nothing wrong with Beijing singer and actress Wang Fei, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung and Beijing actor Hu Jun worshipping Buddhism and attending religious activities.

But it said that “meddling with the ‘Tibetan-independence’ clique leaders has gone far beyond the realm of ‘freedom of religious belief.’”

The phrase is a reference to the government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhists’ spiritual leader whom Beijing accuses of campaigning to split Tibet from the rest of China.

China has already warned celebrities they should “serve the people and socialism.”