Dalai Lama vetoes conditions

2003-09-05 08:02

London - The Dalai Lama would willingly return to Tibet and end nearly half a century of exile if China allowed him back "without preconditions", the spiritual leader said in a British newspaper interview published on Friday.

"I'm hopeful to see Tibet, to see my old place with my own eyes, and try to cool down the situation," the Dalai Lama, 68, told the left-wing Guardian newspaper.

The Dalai Lama fled the Potala Palace for India in 1959 as Chinese troops crushed an abortive uprising in Lhasa. Chinese officials said on August 26 that if the Dalai Lama is permitted to return it is highly unlikely he would be allowed to live in the ornate palace atop a high hill in the heart of the Tibetan capital.

Green light

"You ask under what circumstances? China should give me the green light, without preconditions," the Dalai Lama told a Guardian journalist in Dharamsala, north India on Wednesday.

The next day the spiritual leader and Nobel laureate embarked on a trip to the United States where his press secretary said he would hold talks with US President George W Bush.

The White House has declined to confirm the meeting with Bush, and China said it had protested against the trip.

The Dalai Lama last met Bush in May 2001 at the White House.

China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, views Tibet as a part of its territory and opposes any official contact between the Dalai Lama and any foreign government.

The Dalai Lama told The Guardian that negotiations with China had been "positive" and stressed that the only way of finding a solution to the Tibetan problem was through "dialogue".

"We have not yet started serious discussions (with Beijing)," he said.

Confidence and understanding/B>

"For the moment I believe it is essential to develop confidence. This is the moment to try and build confidence and understanding," he said.

"Our position is not seeking independence for Tibet, but genuine autonomy, which the Chinese constitution mentions," he said.

The Dalai Lama said that the Chinese might appoint a successor to him, "a young lucky boy", but the Tibetans would reject him.

"They will not respect him. He will not have any influence," the Dalai Lama said.

- AFP