China blames Dalai Lama for talks failure, asks him to keep off border row with India

The Chinese government has blamed the Dalai Lama's envoys for the lack of results in the latest round of reconciliation talks, which took place at the end of January. This has been stated by Zhu Weiqun, vice minister of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which handles Tibet issues.

He made it clear on Feb 2 that China considers the Dalai Lama's call for "greater autonomy" for his homeland to be a disguised call for Tibetan independence. Zhu argued that independence for Tibet affects China's territorial integrity and national dignity. On these issues, the Chinese government sees no room for negotiation or concession.

Progress in talks on Tibet hinged on the Dalai Lama staying clear of political issues, Zhu said and cautioned the Tibetan religious leader against interfering in the border dispute between India and China.

Zhu reiterated that any progress depended on the Dalai Lama refraining from involving himself in political matters. He pointed to statements the Tibetan religious leader had made claiming that “southern Tibet” — the Chinese government’s reference to Arunachal Pradesh, parts of which it claims — and “areas south of the McMahon Line belonged to India”. The statements would worsen the Dalai Lama’s relations with the Central government, he warned.

The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, in a recent article accused the Dalai Lama of “pleasing his Indian masters” by describing himself as “a son of India”. “People cannot help but ask that since the Dalai Lama deems himself an Indian rather than Chinese, then why is he entitled to represent the voice of the Tibetan people?” the paper wrote. It also accused the Dalai Lama of “betraying southern Tibet to India”.

Zhu accused the Dalai Lama of setting up what he called an illegal government in exile in Dharamsala, India. He also stressed that the Chinese government refuses to discuss whether the Dalai Lama is the representative of all Tibetans, and instead will only discuss terms of his return to Tibet.

Wishing the 74-year-old Dalai Lama a long life, he added that China does not want him to be on foreign soil at the end of his life.

The talks that ended Jan 31 were the ninth round between the Chinese government and envoys from the Dalai Lama since 2002. The last round in November 2008 also ended with no results. Zhu says Beijing wants to pursue talks so they can be, in his words, "a channel for the Dalai Lama to redress his mistakes."

According to Zhu, one difference this time was that the Chinese took the Dalai Lama's envoys to visit Mao's birthplace in Hunan province, and also took them to visit two minority areas to see how the Chinese government implements regional ethnic autonomy. The door to talks remains open unless the Dalai Lama publicly announces Tibet independence. The Tibetan leader has repeatedly renounced independence, and says he wants greater cultural and religious autonomy for his homeland. Tibetan exiles accuse the Chinese government of discriminating against and repressing Tibetans.

Meanwhile, Lodi Gyari, who represented the Dalai Lama in China, said on Tuesday in Dharmasala that the Tibetans remain committed to talking with the Chinese government. "However, we made it very clear that in order for us to continue this dialogue, there has to be some progress," added Gyari.

Warning to US on Obama-Dalai meet

Also Tuesday, Zhu took a strong stand on reports that President Barack Obama will meet soon with the Dalai Lama. If the U.S. leader chooses to meet with the Dalai Lama at this time, it will threaten trust and cooperation between China and the United States. The Sino-American relationship is already troubled by several other issues, including US arms sales to Taiwan and Washington's concern over China's censorship of the Internet.

Barack Obama still plans to meet the Dalai Lama, the White House said on Tuesday, despite China warning that such a meeting would hurt ties between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies. "The President told China's leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama and he intends to do so," White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters. During his visit to the US in the last week of February, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to hold a series of public talk in California.

- Asian Tribune -