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Match words with deeds: Hu
Closed-door talks between the Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials on the situation in Tibet following the riots against Chinese rule in March opened in Shenzhen on Sunday.
Updated : Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
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Chinese president hopes talks with Dalai Lama’s envoys will produce positive results
HONG KONG: Closed-door talks between the Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials on the situation in Tibet following the riots against Chinese rule in March opened in Shenzhen on Sunday.
No further details of the talks, or even of where in Shenzhen they were held, were made public, but the “informal discussions” are expected to continue for two more days, sources said. The Tibetan side is represented by the Dalai Lama’s special envoy Lodi Gyari and envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen, who have held six earlier rounds of dialogue with Chinese representatives on Tibet. The Chinese side is represented by the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) deputy head Zhu Weiqun and UFWD Seventh Bureau director Sitar.
The last time the two sides met was in June-July 2007, in Shanghai and Nanjing. Last week, China announced that it would initiate “informal consultations” with the Dalai Lama’s “private representatives” in a move widely seen as an effort by Beijing to circumvent international criticism of its crackdown in Tibet following the uprising in March.
China’s President Hu Jintao expressed the hope that the Shenzhen talks would make progress, but said that the Dalai Lama’s envoys would have to match their words with deeds. “I hope some positive results will be achieved in the meeting,” Hu told reporters in Beijing ahead of his visit to Tokyo. However, he said, “we need to look out for not only what they would say but also what they would do.”
China accuses the Dalai Lama of instigating the riots in Lhasa and of campaigning for Tibetan independence. A government official said that he 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.” Last week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said she hoped that the Dalai Lama and his followers would “cherish” this opportunity.
