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Envoys postpone giving details as China strikes hard

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

Dalai Lama’s envoys Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari (r) and Kelsang Gyaltsen address a press conference in Dharamshala seen here in July 2008. The envoys postponed giving details of the eighth round of talks with Chinese officials on the future of Tibet until the special meeting in November, even as China says “semi-independence” or “independence in disguise” is out of the question.Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal/India

The envoys of the Dalai Lama postponed giving details of the eighth round of talks with Chinese officials on the future of Tibet until the special meeting of Tibetans in November, even as China says “Tibet independence,” “half independence” or “covert independence” would not be tolerated.

Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the head of the Tibetan delegation for talks with China, said in a statement published on the website of the Tibetan government-in-exile, that the Prime Minister of the exile government “advised not to make statements about our discussions” before Tibetans hold a special meeting in mid-November.

“The main purpose of this trip was to follow up on the discussions held during the seventh round in July this year. We presented a memorandum to the Chinese leadership on genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people,” the statement said.

The Tibetan delegation were in China from 30 October. Gyari was accompanied by colleague Kelsang Gyaltsen and three aides — Sonam N. Dagpo and Bhuchung K. Tsering, both members of the Task Force on Sino-Tibetan Negotiations, and Kalsang Tsering from the Secretariat of the Task Force.

They held discussions for two days from 4 November with the Chinese representatives from the Central United Front Work Department led by Du Qinglin, the minister of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.

Gyari said that they had been briefed on the Chinese Constitution and the Law on Regional National Autonomy, and were taken on a tour of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Meanwhile, fiery but characteristic rhetoric published in China’s official Xinhua News Agency demanded that the Dalai Lama stop plotting or inciting violent activities or propositions aimed at “Tibet Independence.”

The piece also said that China even rejects granting Hong Kong- and Macao-type “one country, two systems ” for Tibet.

The report, citing Du Qinglin, said, “The Dalai Lama should respect history, face reality and conform to the times, as well as fundamentally change his political propositions.”

The report asked the Dalai Lama to show sincerity to his commitments to: not supporting plots to fan violent criminal activities, not supporting and concretely curbing violent terrorist activities of the Tibetan Youth Congress, and to create favourable conditions for the meetings to make progress, as promised during the contacts in July.

Leading Tibetans will meet in Dharamshala from 17 to 22 November to decide on the future direction of their movement. The Dalai Lama called this meeting after admitting the talks with China have failed.

It is widely expected that Tibetans will adopt a harder and more hostile stance in dealing with China as more and more Tibetans openly oppose the Dalai Lama’s rapprochement policy with China.

Copyright © 2008 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun