Dalai Lama warned not to seek secession

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-07 07:01

Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee. [File Photo]

China will never tolerate any attempts at "Tibet independence", or waver "in the slightest" in safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, a senior official has said.

"Tibet independence is out of the question," said Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CPC Central Committee, after meeting with two representatives of the Dalai Lama recently.

"Semi-independence or independence in any disguised form will not be tolerated either," Du reportedly told the two envoys, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, Xinhua said on Thursday.

The meeting, held in Beijing, was the third between the central government and the Dalai Lama's representatives after the March 14 Lhasa riots.

Du said regional autonomy for ethnic minorities is part of the central government's fundamental policy, but it will never tolerate any attempt to damage ethnic unity.

He urged the Dalai Lama to respect history, face reality, comply with the times and correct his political stance "fundamentally". The Dalai Lama should not support or incite violence to seek "Tibet independence", he said.

"The Dalai Lama should honor the promises he made during the July negations, and try to create conditions for the negotiations to yield results," Du said.

In July, the Dalai Lama's envoys accepted the government's conditions of:

not supporting plots aimed at inciting violent criminal activities;

not backing terrorist activities of the secessionist "Tibetan Youth Congress", and instead taking concrete steps to check them; and

not supporting statements or actions seeking "Tibet independence" to split the region from the country.

Du said the government's policies toward the Dalai Lama have been consistent and clear, and the door to dialogue is always open for him.

"Despite the violence in Lhasa (in March), we have arranged three rounds of talks with his representatives. That reflects the sincerity of the central government. We hope the Dalai Lama will choose a path that benefits the country, the people, the history and also himself," Du said.

Zhu Weiqun and Sitar, two deputy heads of the UFWD, and Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the Tibet autonomous region, also met with the Dalai Lama's envoys.

In a statement, Lodi Gyari said the envoys would not comment on the talks until after a special meeting of Tibetan exile communities and political organizations, to be held Nov 17-22 in Dharmsala, India.

The two said they would report the results of the talks to the Dalai Lama.

The two envoys visited the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. They also talked with a few scholars on ethnic regional autonomy policies in Beijing.