http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/dalai-lama-envoy-to-meet-chinese-officials/2007/05/17/1178995290064.html
Dalai Lama envoy to meet Chinese Mary-Anne Toy, China Correspondent, Beijing May 17, 2007 - 12:34PM The Dalai Lama's top envoy responsible for negotiating the future of Tibet with China's leaders is reported to be holding another round of talks in Beijing soon, even as China continues its attacks on the Tibetan leader and presses for his international isolation. The veteran Tibetan diplomat Lodi Gyari, who is based in Washington, was expected to hold talks in Beijing with top officials of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous Tibetan source. The department is responsible for dealing with religious leaders and winning over non-Communists. A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said yesterday they could not confirm or deny the report. Gyari has led negotiations on behalf of the Dalai Lama since formal talks resumed with China in 2002 after more than a decade of non-contact, but little progress has been made. China still deeply mistrusts the Dalai Lama's intentions, even though he renounced the goal of full independence for his homeland more than a decade ago, in favour of a yet to be defined "autonomy" for Tibet. China's new communist government invaded Tibet in 1949, sparking a resistance movement that rose up against Beijing in 1959 only to be crushed. The Dalai Lama fled to India soon after and set up a government in exile in India. Some Tibetans who still want full independence say China is not genuine in wanting to reach a deal and talks are just window-dressing ahead of next year's Olympic Games. Gyari, however, says some Chinese leaders recognise that they have an historic opportunity to remove one of the biggest threats to Beijing's legitimacy by resolving the Tibet issue. China's position on the Dalai Lama was summarised by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu last week when she was asked whether China had pressured Belgium to cancel the Dalai Lama's scheduled trip to Brussels. Ms Jiang said China "appreciated" Belgium's adherence to the one China policy before before going on to again accuse the Dalai Lama of wanting to "split the motherland". "The Dalai Lama's words and actions in the past decades have fully proved that he is by no means a purely religious figure, but a political exile engaged in motherland-splitting activities under the camouflage of religion for years," Ms Jian said. "He represents a political force blowing for 'Tibet Independence', which we firmly oppose. We hope relevant countries stay high alert against the attempts of the Dalai Lama clique to undermine their relations with China and split the motherland." theage.com.au [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
