Bush urges restraint by China on Tibet, talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday urged China to exercise restraint in dealing with protests in Tibet and to talk with representatives of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Bush told a news conference he agreed there were human rights abuses in the crackdown in Tibet and said he had conveyed that view to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"It's in his country's interest that he sit down again with representatives of the Dalai Lama ... and that we urge restraint," Bush said.

Bush's remarks at a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd were his first public comments on two weeks of unrest in Tibet, including a day of violence in Lhasa on March 14.

Bush had telephoned Hu on Wednesday to raise his concerns about the unrest.

China says 19 people died in the violence, while representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile say 140 died in clashes.