During a short stop in Japan on his way to the United States, the Dalai Lama said he firmly supports the Beijing Olympic Games, but also said that pro-Tibet demonstrators all over the world have the right to protest as long as they keep it non-violent.

"It is really deserving for the Chinese people to host the Olympic Games," His Holiness said during a press conference at Tokyo’s international airport Narita. The spiritual leader of Tibet added that even with the “unfortunate event in Tibet”, he won’t change his position on this.

He said that no one should try to stop the pro-Tibet protesters from voicing their discontent with this matter, but didn’t called for a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony as several western powers did.

“We are not anti-Chinese,” was probably Dalai Lama’s statement that struck a sensible and pacifying tone toward Beijing.

“Right from the beginning, we supported the Olympic Games,” the exiled spiritual leader added.

The Dalai Lama described China’s actions against the Tibet protesters in Lhasa and the neighboring areas as an outdated way of suppressing unrest. His Holiness also underlined the fact that he has sent a message to Tibetans in San Francisco, where the torch relay was held on Wednesday, calling on them not to make “any violent actions,"

"I sent a message to the Tibetans in San Francisco area, please don't make any violent actions," he said.

However, he also added that nobody has the right to shut them up.

As expected, the torch relay has drawn thousands of protesters in London and Paris who supported the independence of Tibet, currently a province of China. In San Francisco the city officials and the demonstrators practically played a game of hide-and-seek as the route of the Olympic torch was suddenly changed.

The Chinese government has blamed the Dalai Lama and his close associates for being the mastermind behind the monk-led protest that stared in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, last month. On the other hand, the spiritual leader of Tibet repeatedly denied such allegations and also said that he doesn’t back protesters who want to fight for Tibet’s independence.

His Holiness said that violence is not the way to deal with the situation and added that the people of Tibet and the Chinese should live together.