IOC head calls for end of China hectoring

BEIJING, April 26 (UPI) -- China should no longer be barraged with international criticism for its alleged human rights violations, the head of the International Olympic Committee says.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said the international community should cease all criticism of China, despite recent movement on the country's part regarding talks with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, the Financial Times reported Saturday.

"You don't obtain anything in China with a loud voice," Rogge said of such efforts.

"It took us 200 years to evolve from the French Revolution. China started in 1949," he added.

China officially announced Friday it would hold talks with the Dalai Lama as part of an escalating crisis regarding alleged human rights violations in Tibet.

China had accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating a number of violent protests in Tibet, events which have led to a number of protests against the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

Rogge told the Times the Beijing Games should be good for the country's social development.

"The games we believe, over time, will have a good influence on social evolution in China, and the Chinese admit it themselves," the IOC official said.