China willing to engage on Tibet

2008-05-08 09:56

Dharamshala, India - A date will soon be set for a seventh round of formal talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China on Tibet, an envoy of the spiritual leader said on Thursday.

It follows informal talks on Sunday in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen that were the first known encounter between the two sides since unrest broke out in the Himalayan region in March.

"Despite major differences on important issues, both sides demonstrated a willingness to seek common approaches... each side made some concrete proposals which can be part of the future agenda," said a statement by envoy Lodi Gyari, one of the envoys who met on Sunday with Chinese officials.

"As a result, an understanding was reached to continue the formal round of discussions. A date for the seventh round will be finalised soon after mutual consultation."

The statement was issued in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Gyari, who led the Tibetan side of the Shenzhen talks, and a second envoy arrived back in India on Tuesday to brief the Dalai Lama.

Beijing offered last month to reopen dialogue on Tibet, a move seen as a response to global protests over China's crackdown on unrest in the Himalayan region that have angered and embarrassed China's leadership ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Tibetan government-in-exile had said Sunday's talks would be informal and were not on a par with six earlier rounds that started in late 2002 and broke off in 2007.

"We made it clear (at the weekend talks) that the events in Tibet are the inescapable consequences of wrong policies of the authorities towards the Tibetans, which goes back several decades," Gyari said.

"The recent crisis in Tibet is a clear symptom of deeply felt grievances and resentment of the Tibetans with these policies."

Sunday's talks in Shenzhen, just over the border from Hong Kong, took place seven weeks after protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa turned deadly, sparking a military crackdown, and three months before the Olympics are to be held.

"There were strong and divergent views on the nature as well as the causes of the recent tragic events in Tibet (during Sunday's talks). The views were expressed in a frank and candid manner," the Tibetan envoy said.

China was urged to release Tibetan prisoners and end political re-education during the Shenzen talks, Gyari said.

The Tibetan government-in-exile says 203 Tibetans have been killed and about 1 000 injured in the Chinese crackdown. China denies this, saying that Tibetan "rioters" and "insurgents" killed 21 people.

- AFP