China holds more talks with Dalai Lama's envoys

Ching-Ching Ni, Times Staff Writer

BEIJING -- The Chinese government on Thursday said it has held another round of private talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama aimed at easing tensions before the Summer Olympics.

According to state media, Chinese representative Du Qingling said further dialogue is possible only if the Tibetan spiritual leader exhibits "positive behavior" and promises to "not support activities disturbing or sabotaging the Olympic Games."

Few details were available regarding the secret contacts between the two sides, which were believed to have taken place in the Chinese capital on Tuesday and Wednesday. But observers say it's a good sign that they met, given the scale of deadly protests in Tibet earlier this year and growing pressure on Beijing from the international community to make peace with the people of the remote Himalayan region.

"The fact they spent two solid days discussing Tibet is an indication that the Chinese side is serious about resolving this issue," said Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile, based in northern India.

The meetings were the second this year and seventh since 2002. They were delayed for about three weeks due to the massive earthquake that struck central China in May. Throughout the talks, hard-liners in China have not wavered in their harsh rhetoric against the Dalai Lama, whom they accuse of instigating the March riots to draw attention to the goal of splitting Tibet from the rest of China. "The organized and orchestrated incident was created by Tibetan separatists after long-term preparation, with the support and instigation of Western hostile forces," Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party boss of Tibet, was quoted as saying in state media. "At a sensitive moment, they harbored the evil intention of turning the incident into a bloodbath, of disrupting the Beijing Olympics and destroying Tibet's stability and political harmony."

Such thinking has supporters of the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, fuming.

"The Dalai Lama has made it extremely clear that we are not seeking separation of Tibet from China," said Tsering Tashi, the Tibetan exile government's representative in London. "His Holiness supports China's opportunity to host the Olympics. This indicates that Tibetans are not ant-Chinese or anti-China."

While no major breakthroughs were expected, the tone of the latest exchanges could help sway public opinion about China's ability to handle sensitive conflicts. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he might decide next week whether to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics based on the outcome of these meetings.

The French head of state's decision may be of little concern to the Chinese people. But if the Dalai Lama were to show up at the invitation of the Chinese leadership, as unlikely as that might seem, "it would be a huge contribution to facilitate the talks and help produce lasting results," Samphel said.

chingching.ni@latimes.com