China tells Tibet envoys no compromise on sovereignty

Chinese officials told envoys of the Dalai Lama during a recent round of talks that there would be no compromise on China's sovereignty over Tibet, state media said on Monday, suggesting the meeting accomplished little.                                           

Envoys from the Tibetan government in exile are in China for open-ended talks, having arrived last month after Chinese authorities laid out a new policy approach that for the first time includes all Tibetan regions.                                           

China's Xinhua news agency, in a brief dispatch in English, confirmed that the Dalai Lama's envoys had met Communist Party officials but gave few other details.                                           

"During the meetings, CPC officials introduced the achievements made by the Tibet Autonomous Region over the past years under the leadership of the CPC and reiterated that no concessions would be made on issues concerning China's national sovereignty," the report said.                                           

"The Dalai Lama's private envoys, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, expressed their opinions on relevant issues," it added, without elaborating.                                           

China is due to hold a news conference on the meetings in Beijing on Tuesday.                                           

Talks began in 2002 but broke down amid acrimony in 2008. China says the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama is a violent separatist. He says he only wants genuine autonomy for his homeland.                                           

Violent anti-Chinese demonstrations in the Tibetan capital Lhasa left at least 19 dead on March 14, 2008. Exile groups say the real death toll was far higher.