China on Monday rejected a rumor cited by the Dalai Lama that hundreds of soldiers disguised as monks in the Lhasa riots on March 14. 

"The truth of the violent crimes in Lhasa is there for all to see and proved by ironclad evidences that can not be denied," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.

She was responding to a question concerning the Dalai Lama's recent press briefing in New Delhi, India, where he denied having supported the riots and said he heard a few hundred Chinese soldiers were masquerading as monks in the riots.

"Dalai Lama's citing of hearsay rumors can not change the truth of the incident. It only shows the sense of guilty conscience in his deep heart so that he was trying to pass the buck using rumors and cheating," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2008)