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China to resume Dalai Lama talks
25/04/2008 14:51 - (SA)
Beijing - China said on Friday it would soon open fresh talks with aides to the Dalai Lama in a response to fierce pressure from world leaders less than four months before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games.
The state-run news agency Xinhua said government officials would meet "in the coming days" with a private representative of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
It would be the first known encounter between the two sides for a year, and follows last month's deadly unrest in Tibet which triggered a sharp military crackdown by Chinese authorities.
The surprise announcement was immediately welcomed by a spokesperson for the Dalai Lama as well as by the international community, with France, Japan and the European Union hailing the move as a step forward.
"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," Xinhua said, quoting an unidentified Chinese official.
Rioting erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa last month, spreading to other areas populated by Tibetans.
'Step in the right direction'
Beijing's crackdown in the Himalayan region, as well as criticism of its human rights record, triggered protests that have dogged the Olympic torch - notably in London and Paris - on its journey around the world ahead of the Games in August.
A Dalai Lama spokesperson called it "a step in the right direction".
"Only face-to-face meetings can lead to a resolution of the Tibetan issue," Tenzin Takla told AFP.
"His holiness, since March 10 when the (anti-China) protests started, had been making all efforts to reach out to China and the Chinese government, and he hopes the Tibetan issue can be resolved only through dialogue," he said by telephone from Dharamshala, seat of Tibet's government-in-exile in India.
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