The New York Times
Saturday 26 April 2008
Beijing - China appeared to bend to international pressure on Friday as the government announced it would meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama, an unexpected shift that comes as violent Tibetan demonstrations in western China have threatened to cast a pall over the Beijing Olympics in August.
China's announcement, made through the country's official news agency, provided few details about the shape or substance of the talks but said the new discussions would commence "in the coming days." The breakthrough comes as Chinese officials have pivoted this week and moved to tamp down the domestic nationalist anger unleashed by the Tibetan crisis and by the protests at the international Olympic torch relay.
"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," said an unidentified Chinese official, according to Xinhua, the official news agency.
The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, was returning to India from the United States on Friday. He has repeatedly called for renewed talks with Chinese officials and last month sent a letter to China's president, Hu Jintao. Earlier this month, he hinted in Seattle that a back-channel discussion was already under way. On Friday, his spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, said: "Since His Holiness is committed to dialogue, we would welcome this."
The spokesman added that the Dalai Lama had not yet received any official communication from China. "We also have to look at when the offer does officially arrive," he said from Dharamshala, India, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile. "We have to look at conditions they are talking about."
For weeks, Chinese officials have castigated the Dalai Lama in harsh language and blamed him for orchestrating the violent Tibetan protests that erupted March 14 in Lhasa and then spread across other Tibetan regions of western China. The Dalai Lama has denied any involvement in the demonstrations and denounced the violence, if also criticizing China for its crackdown against protesters.
China's tough stance came as international leaders, including President Bush, have described the Dalai Lama as a man of peace and called on China to resume a dialogue with his envoys that began in 2002 but then broke off last summer after six rounds of talks. Those talks, focused on the future status of Tibet and whether the Dalai Lama will be allowed to return to China, never made significant progress.
The timing of China's announcement suggests that party leaders hope to defuse the international criticism that has steadily mounted since the Tibetan protests began. In Europe, criticism is particularly strong as several government leaders have announced they will not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Anti-China protesters caused violent disruptions to the Olympic torch relay in London and Paris, forcing relay organizers to change the route in other cities out of security concerns. China supporters have responded by flooding to the relay route.
"I believe the important question is whether China is doing this as a public relations maneuver to respond to international pressure before the Olympic Games," said Wang Lixiong, a scholar in Beijing who has criticized government policy in Tibet. "They want the Dalai Lama to help them relieve pressure before the Olympics. But is it a sincere move, or just a public relations move?"
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at People's University in Beijing, said the Chinese government does not want the talks to be "interpreted as a concession under duress." He predicted that any discussions would be unlikely to bring meaningful breakthroughs.
"I doubt that both sides will change their fundamental positions," Mr. Shi said. "If there is dialogue, this is dialogue for the sake of dialogue. Maybe both sides only want to impress the Western audience."
China has long condemned the Dalai Lama as a "splittist" who is pursuing Tibetan independence, even as the Dala Lama long ago disavowed Tibetan independence and has instead called for "genuine autonomy" within China. Chinese spokesmen often say the government would be willing to resume dialogue with the Tibetan spiritual leader but only if he shows "sincerity" in renouncing separatism and on other issues.
"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," the unidentified Chinese official said in Friday's official announcement.
Tenzin Taklha, the Tibetan spokesman, denounced these conditions as "basically baseless," noting that the Dalai Lama has not sought independence since 1974 and supported holding the Olympics in Beijing, even after the violence erupted last month. "We have no preconditions," he said. "We're not saying these are conditions to talk. It's a cause of concern for us to see repression is still continuing inside Tibet."
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Somini Sengupta contributed reporting from New Delhi and Jake Hooker contributed reporting from Beijing. Huang Yuanxi contributed research from Beijing.
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