Home > News Archive > China says still looking to talks with Tibet envoys

China says still looking to talks with Tibet envoys

By Chris Buckley | Reuters

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu during a regular press conference in Beijing on 28 October 2008.Xinhua/China

China remains in contact with the Dalai Lama’s administration over proposed talks, an official said Tuesday, despite the exiled Buddhist leader’s claim that he had lost hope of agreement with Beijing over the future of Tibet.

Officials from Beijing were due this month to meet with the Dalai Lama’s envoys for their latest talks on Tibet, the mountain region he fled in 1959.

But a senior aide of the 73-year-old leader of Tibetan Buddhism said Sunday the Dalai Lama saw “no hope” of winning self-determination for his homeland, which erupted in riots and unrest in March.

The Dalai Lama has called a meeting of Tibetan exiles in November to discuss the future of their cause.

“From what I understand, there is further communication underway on the arrangements for the contacts and consultations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Jiang told a regular news conference in Beijing that it was up to the Dalai Lama, not China, to show sincerity about the secretive discussions that resumed in July.

“We hope that these contacts can make the Dalai’s side see the situation clearly and truly demonstrate sincerity and actions,” she said.

Jiang did not comment directly on the Dalai Lama’s apparent loss of hope.

“China has an old saying: To listen to words and observe actions,” she said. “If the Dalai’s side truly wants to improve relations with the Chinese government, it should resolutely observe the commitments made in the July bilateral discussions.”

In those talks, China demanded that that the Buddhist leader should not support any efforts seeking Tibetan independence.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, has said he wants a high level of autonomy for Tibet, but not outright independence.

Beijing says his conditions amount to a bid for independence.

Copyright © 2008 Thomson Reuters

Published in Reuters