China: Dalai Lama must prove he does not support disrupting the Beijing Olympics
The demands made by a top Chinese official in two days of meetings indicate there has been no apparent change in Beijing's position toward the Dalai Lama, who is frequently demonized by the Communist leadership.
Beijing has accused the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and his supporters of fomenting anti-government protests that rocked Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas of China in March.
The accusations have been rebuffed by the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile, which insisted Thursday that the Dalai Lama has been "tireless" in expressing his commitment to nonviolence.
"He has also gone out of his way to publicly announce his support for the Beijing Olympics. He has even said that he would like to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics to show his support," said Thupten Samphal, a spokesman for the exile government based in Dharmsala, India.
The talks are important to China's hopes of hosting a flawless Olympic Games. Some experts believe Beijing agreed to the talks to ease criticism that it was too heavy-handed in its response to the March violence.
Some world leaders have said they might boycott the opening ceremony of next month's Olympics to protest China's handling of the unrest. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said this week he would attend if the latest talks made progress.
Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday that Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department, met with the Tibetan envoys and said the Dalai Lama should "openly and explicitly" promise and prove through his actions that he does not support disruptions of the Beijing Olympics, nor plots to incite violence.
The Dalai Lama also must not support any effort to seek independence for Tibet, Du was quoted as saying by Xinhua, which cited a report from the United Front Work Department. The department is designed to negotiate with influential people in groups outside of China's Communist Party.
Phones in the department's propaganda office rang unanswered all day Thursday.
Du told envoys Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen that the door of dialogue is always open, Xinhua reported. Two vice ministers of the United Front Work Department, Zhu Weiqun and Sita, also said there could be further meetings before the end of this year if the Dalai Lama's side takes positive actions. No other details were given.
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Humanity | July 3, 2008 at 3:45 p.m.
