From the, "Why not? I have nothing else to lose" department

Based on this, the Dalai Lama seems to have given up any hope he ever had of getting back to his homeland or that the Chinese leaders would ever begin to act like rational human beings, rather than the power-at-all-costs monsters that they are. The Chinese don't take well to people who make them "lose face." Do you know what, though? It's often the only thing that works with them. Take the situation reported by Steve Mosher. He recounted in a recorded talk how a Chinese official was giving a news conference concerning China's forced abortion policy. Said Mandarin was asked whether if the one baby allowed a couple was born with birth defects, would they be allowed to euthanize that children. And the guy essentially said the court of international opinion hadn't made itself known on that. Now USAID, Peter Singer, PETA, and Planned Parenthood may have no issue with that sorta thing, but most people would. So China wants to save face and not be known for a nation with the barbarous policies that it has.