Tibetan youths at a gathering yesterday showing their support to the Beijing Olympic Games in Lhasa.

The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is a stubborn advocate of "Tibet independence" supported by the Tibetan "government-in-exile", which upholds violence and has become an armed spearhead of the 14th Dalai Lama group, says a senior Chinese Tibetologist.

The TYC was set up in 1970 under the "direct incitement of the Dalai Lama", said Bi Hua, a senior researcher with the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC).

Bi said that in the early 1970s, some Tibetan youths "in exile" became tired of life, as there was no chance of either independence or returning to China years after they fled the country. The group was established in such a situation.

The Dalai Lama and major officials of the "government-in-exile" attended the TYC's inauguration ceremony in 1970 and encouraged Tibetan youths to pursue Tibet independence "with resolution and courage".

Bi said the Dalai Lama intended to resolve conflicts among sects via the TYC and use the group to train his successors.

The TYC constitution clearly states that an extensive movement should be organized "even at the cost of blood and life" to achieve the goal of independence, said Bi.

The organization rapidly spread to major Tibetan outposts in India, Nepal, Bhutan, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States in the 1980s and now has 81 branches worldwide covering more than 30,000 members, he said.

Eighty percent of the staff of the "government-in-exile" were once TYC members, and more than 60 key TYC members have joined the "government" and assumed major posts since the 1980s, he said.