China open to talks with Dalai Lama, wants Tibet to be left out

BEIJING, Nov 5: China today said it was ready to hold talks with the exiled Tibetan leader, Dalai Lama, at any time'' provided he renounc...

BEIJING, Nov 5: China today said it was ready to hold talks with the exiled Tibetan leader, Dalai Lama, “at any time” provided he renounced his quest for Tibet’s independence and acknowledged it as an “inalienable part” of China.

“The door is open for talks and negotiations between the Chinese central government and Dalai Lama,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tang Guoqiang told newsmen. The Central Government’s policy towards Dalai Lama has always been consistent and clear-cut, he said in response to a question whether Beijing would resume talks with Dalai Lama, now based in India.

In its first reaction to the Tibetan issue after President Jiang Zemin’s visit to the United States, the ministry spokesman said, “The Central Government is ready to hold talks with him at any time as long as he completely abandons his position on Tibet’s independence, acknowledges that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and Tibet is an inalienable part of China.”

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Further, Lama must stop all the activities aimed at “splitting the motherland” both inside and outside China, Tang said, pointing out that these were not “preconditions”. “This is by no means a precondition or a barrier for holding talks, but the basis of the proposed talks and the guarantee for a fruitful negotiation,” he clarified.

Commenting on the previous talks held between China and Lama, Tang said that in more than 10 years of contact between the Chinese government and Lama, the leader’s “persistent position” on Tibet’s independence remained unchanged.

Tang also accused the Nobel Peace Prize winner of carrying out “splittist activities” against China and of constantly changing his tactics. “Even when he (Dalai) asked for contact with the Chinese government, he never gave up his splittist activities inside and outside China.”

“These facts show that Lama is not sincere at all in holding talks with the government,” he said, adding Lama should be held responsible for the impasse regarding the Tibetan issue. “It is Lama who should be held responsible that the past contact recorded no progress and no negotiation can be held at present.”

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Meanwhile, Tang also expressed China’s firm opposition to the appointment of a “special coordinator of Tibetan affairs” by the United States government.

“Tibetan affairs are China’s internal affairs,” he said pointing out that no foreign country has the right to interfere in Tibetan affairs.

The US State Department named Greg Craig, a senior official, as the first special coordinator of Tibetan affairs, a day after Jiang left Washington after his summit with President Bill Clinton.