The Tibetan government-in-exile welcomed China's willingness for more talks with its envoys, but reiterated the conditions outlined in its last memorandum to Beijing.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is always ready to engage with the Chinese leadership to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problems of the Tibetan people,” Tibetan Government-in-Exile Prime Minister Samdhong Lobsam Tenzin, the Samdhong Rinpoche, said in a statement issued late on Saturday.
A memorandum of “genuine autonomy” for Tibet was presented to Beijing last October during the eighth round of talks with China.
“The memorandum clearly outlines the aspirations of the Tibetan people strictly within the constitutional principles of the People's Republic of China. Premier Wen Jiabao [溫家寶] appears to be trying to avoid acknowledging this document,” the statement said.
Chinese officials and envoys of the Dalai Lama — branded by Beijing as “splittist” — have held several rounds of talks, but little of substance has been achieved.
Wen said on Friday that China was open to more talks with envoys for the Dalai Lama as long as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader renounced what Beijing described as separatism.
The Dalai Lama marked March 10, the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule, with a speech calling for “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet in the north Indian town of Dharamsala, seat of his Tibetan government-in-exile.
The latest statement reiterated that the Dalai Lama was not seeking separation.
Thubten Samphel, a spokesman, said they would not negotiate on their core demands.
“These are our core demands. We will not dilute them, we will not climb down,” he said.
The Dalai Lama, “is not seeking separation” and hopes China will demonstrate sincerity in dealing with the region, the government-in-exile said.
Wen’s allegations that the Dalai Lama sought to separate Tibet from China were far from the truth, Rinpoche, said in a statement on the government-in-exile’s Web site late on Saturday. The international community is aware of the facts, which don’t need further clarification, the statement said.
The Dalai Lama is bidding to separate Tibet from China and the government won’t tolerate foreign interference, Wen said on Friday.
The comments came as US President Barack Obama called on China to renew talks with the Dalai Lama over the region’s future.
The US and human rights groups have stepped up pressure on China to change its policies in Tibet to coincide with this month’s 50th anniversary of the anti-Chinese uprising.
Rinpoche welcomed Wen's statement on continuing talks with the representatives of the Dalai Lama and said the Buddhist leader was always ready to engage with the Chinese leadership to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problems of the Tibetan people.
“A memorandum on genuine autonomy was presented to China on Oct. 31, last year, during the eighth round of talks,” Rinpoche said. “It outlines the aspirations of the Tibetan people strictly within the constitutional principles of China.”
Wen appears to be trying to avoid acknowledging this document by referring to some past statements by the Dalai Lama, Rinpoche said.
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
RSS