The Dalai Lama can change his course, but he can never deny what he has said in the past, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday.

Commenting on the Dalai Lama's claims that he has never asked Chinese troops and the Han ethnic group to be out of Tibet, Wen said, "These are sheer lies."

The Dalai Lama demanded, in his "five-point peace plan" in 1987 and the "seven-point new suggestions" in 1988, the Chinese troops and military facilities be withdrawn from Tibet. He also demanded to stop the Han ethnic group from settling in Tibet, and that those who have already settled in move out.

"Those are all written words. The Dalai Lama can change his course. But he can never deny what he has said," Wen said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2009)