New York, Apr.14 : Tibetan spiritual leader --The Dalai Lama -- said on Sunday that his aides are in touch with the Chinese Government over the protests in Tibet.
Tibetan spiritual leader --The Dalai Lama -- said on Sunday that his aides are in touch with the Chinese Government over the protests in Tibet.
"Just a few days these are going on," the Dalai Lama, was quoted by the New York Times, as saying. But he said he was unclear what the talks might yield, as he was not directly involved.
Western leaders have encouraged China to resume discussions with the Dalai Lama in the wake of the unrest in Tibet, which began on March 10.
As recently as Saturday, President Hu Jintao echoed the views of other Chinese leaders who have accused the Dalai Lama of encouraging violence.
Hu, however, left open the door for a dialogue but only if "the Dalai side stops activities splitting the motherland, stops activities scheming and instigating violence, and stops activities sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games."
According to Xinhua, the Chinese Government's official news agency, the Dalai Lama, who is in Seattle for a conference, told reporters on Sunday that he was unaware of Hu's comments.
He, however, reiterated that he had no role to play in the violence in Tibet.
He also rejected the suggestion that Tibetan leaders might make concessions to engage in more extensive dialogue with China.
"We've become refugees," he said, adding that Tibetans had little left to concede.
Asked whether he would accept an invitation to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, he laughed and said he did not expect to receive one.
More important, he said, was for China to take steps to earn the international respect and trust it hopes the Olympics will help nurture.
As part of doing this, he said, China should release Tibetans arrested since the protests began and provide those injured with proper medical care. He also said China should open Tibet to the news media.
He restated positions he has made clear in the past: that he does not seek independence for Tibet but what he calls a more genuine autonomy and that he is eager for the Chinese people to know that Tibetans are neither anti-Chinese nor opposed to the Beijing Olympics.
He said he believed that the idea of a "harmonious society" promoted by Hu showed that the governing Communist Party was "in a state of transformation," even as the Chinese Government continues to distort information and manipulate its people.
ChinaDalai Lama
