Ebru News | EU Officials Meet with Chinese Leaders

EU Officials Meet with Chinese Leaders

China's government agreed to a meeting with an envoy of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, a step that follows weeks of calls from world leaders for dialogue in the wake of anti-government protests in Tibet.

25
Apr
2008

(Ebru News/AP) China's government agreed to a meeting with an envoy of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, a step that follows weeks of calls from world leaders for dialogue in the wake of anti-government protests in Tibet. The announcement was made by Xinhua New Agency which releases major government announcements, but gave no details on a time or place for the talks, or who they would involve.

The prime minister of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile said he had not received any official Chinese confirmation of the Xinhua report and sounded a cautious note on any potential talks.

Professor Samdhong Rimpoche,
"We are learning this from the Xinhua news only. I do not have any official information about it. As a matter of fact His Holiness is always open to have dialogue with them but the present circumstances inside Tibet do not appear an appropriate occasion to have a meaningful dialogue. Nevertheless His Holiness.

The report said China had committed only to a meeting and appeared to attach routine conditions for the opening of a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, including a demand that he stop plotting for Tibet's independence "so as to create conditions for talks."

Following a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the announcement encouraging.

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