Chinese 'propaganda' portrays me as 'devil': Dalai Lama

LONDON (AFP) — The Dalai Lama has said he was saddened that Beijing's state "propaganda" had left many Chinese considering him a "devil with horns".

On the first of five days of talks and teachings in the central English city of Nottingham, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said Beijing's control over information left millions thinking he was a "demon".

Emotional human values were lacking in modern China, he added.

"Millions of innocent Chinese will have no other way to get information except government propaganda," he said in a talk at Nottingham Arena Saturday.

"If millions feel that the Dalai Lama is a demon, then I feel very sad.

"This is no help to solve the problems."

His strength of character and inner peace lay in the fact he, and other Tibetan Buddhists, had truth, he said.

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• Dalai Lama photo released into the public domain by its author, www.buddhismus.at. This applies worldwide.