BEIJING — The Chinese government said Friday that it would meet with a representative of the Dalai Lama in "coming days," apparently bowing to international pressure after weeks of anti-Beijing protests that have threatened to tarnish the Olympics.
Friday's terse statement, carried by the official New China News Agency, made no mention of the drumbeat of criticism and demonstrations China has faced abroad since it launched a crackdown on Tibetan unrest in mid-March.
Rather, China said that its move was in response to repeated requests by representatives of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader and that Beijing was always willing to engage in dialogue.
Early reaction to the turnaround was cautious. "If they are really genuine in reviving this dialogue, it's very welcome," said Tsering Tashi, a representative of the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet in London. "But it shouldn't be just for the sake of saying it. They should really mean it and there shouldn't be preconditions."
In fact, Beijing's statement repeated many of the accusations it has leveled recently, urging the "Dalai side" to stop trying to split China, incite violence or disrupt the Summer Olympics in Beijing "so as to create conditions for talks."
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 during an anti-China uprising, has called for greater autonomy for Tibetans rather than an independent state. He has also said he supports a successful Olympics in China.
Chinese officials have dismissed those statements as lies or cynical negotiating tactics.
Washington welcomed China's announcement. "We are hopeful that this will be a new direction in their relationship," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday, adding that President Bush viewed the Dalai Lama as a man of peace.
China analysts said Beijing recognized that it had a problem and wanted to be seen as taking the initiative.
But the underlying problems are complex and not amenable to easy solutions, said Wang Lixiong, a Beijing-based writer and Tibet expert.
"I am not terribly optimistic we'll see substantive results," he said.
China's one-nation, two-systems policy on Hong Kong offers a model for expanded Tibetan autonomy, said Wang Yong, a professor at Peking University, although it could be difficult to achieve in the current charged political climate.
"The two sides lack trust," Wang said. "We need to see what the Dalai Lama wants to achieve."
