China asks Dalai to curb activities of Tibet

BEIJING: The latest talks between China and Dalai Lama's envoys failed to make any breakthrough on the vexed Tibet issue, with hawkish Beijing demanding that the exiled leader take "concrete" steps to curb the anti-Beijing "plots" of the India-based Tibetan Youth Congress.

During the talks which began here on Monday, the Chinese officials told the Dalai Lama's envoys that the Buddhist leader must not support any activity to disturb the Beijing Olympics in August.

The officials said exiled leader should "not support plots to fan violent criminal activities and take concrete steps to curb the violent terrorist activities of the Tibetan Youth Congress".

The Chinese demands were conveyed by Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee during his meeting with the Dalai Lamas representatives Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen.

Du told the self-exiled leaders envoys that the central governments policy towards the Dalai Lama "is consistent and explicit and the door of dialogue is always open", state-run Xinhua news agency said quoting a statement issued by the department.

During the latest round of talks, second since the most violent anti-government protest erupted in Lhasa in March, Chinese officials also demanded that the 72-year-old monk should "openly and explicitly" promise and prove through his action not to support any activity linked to Tibet's
 independence.

Representatives of the Dalai Lama, living in exile in India, were here for the talks, which according to the Tibetan government in exile were scheduled for two days from Tuesday.

Du told the self-exiled leader's envoys that the central government's policy towards the Dalai Lama "is consistent and explicit and the door of dialogue is always open", a statement issued by the department said.

Meanwhile, Tibet's foreign minister in exile Kesang Yangkyi Takla said that the latest round of talks with China so far did not look encouraging.

"Judging from some of the statements made by the Chinese leadership, particularly the office for the autonomous region of Tibet, what they have to say about the Tibetan situation is not very encouraging," she told reporters in Tokyo.

During the latest round of two-day talks, second since the most violent anti-government protest erupted in Lhasa in March, Chinese officials also demanded that the Dalai should "openly and explicitly" promise and prove it in his actions not to support "any argument and activity to seek 'Tibet independence' and split the region from the country.

The top Communist official participating in the talks said the Dalai Lama should also not support activities to disturb the upcoming Olympics.

"In Tibet, the adherence to the CPC leadership, the socialist system and the regional autonomy of ethnic minorities will not be altered," Du said, while affirming that the central government would apply its policies in Tibet, support its economic and social development and improve living standards of people in the region "as it did before."

Zhu Weiqun and Sitar, two deputy heads of the department, also met the Dalai Lama's representatives and exchanged ideas on detailed issues, Xinhua said.

The Tibetan leader's representatives also "expressed their ideas on several relevant issues" and said they would report the results to the Dalai Lama, it said. During their stay in Beijing, the two toured the Olympic stadiums and talked with some Tibetologists.

The talks were the highest level meeting and the seventh between the two sides since the dialogue resumed in 2002.

After the most sustained and severest anti-government protests in two decades in March, the Dalai has come under vitriolic attack from China which regularly accuses him of having "masterminded" the violence and being a "separatist."

The Tibetan leader who fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 has made repeated assertions he only wants autonomy and fully supports Olympics.

Major powers led by the US had nudged China to engage the Dalai in talks and end crackdown in Tibet, bringing more pressure on Beijing at a time when it was oriented towards Olympics to showcase its emergence as a modern power.

As the talks were underway, the Dalai pressed global community to speak for the Tibetan people at this 'critical stage' and prodded China for progress in the dialogue over the "grim" situation in the remote Himalayan region.

"Tibet on Thursday is passing through a very critical period with the very survival of the Tibetan people at stake. The situation in Tibet continues to be grim," he said in a message to a conference in Tokyo, while flaying Beijing for "eroding Tibetan people's distinct cultural and spiritual heritage."

Prior to the talks, seen by critics as an attempt by Beijing to polish image ahead of Olympics, Chinese Foreign Ministry had said it hoped the "contact and dialogue" with the Dalai Lama side could make "positive progress".

The pre-talks atmosphere had also witnessed some gestures seen as a concession from China which, ahead of the Olympic torch relay in Lhasa, had announced release of 1,157 people detained for minor offences in the deadly riots in Lhasa.

Courts in Tibet sentenced 12 people recently, while 30 persons were jailed in April for their alleged role in the riots for terms ranging from three years to life.

China had also last week reopened Tibet to foreign tourists, three months after it was sealed off citing safety concerns following the riots.