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China to meet Dalai Lama aides amid Tibet tension
China is to hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom it blames for a wave of unrest, state media reported on Friday.
- Agencies
- Published: 18:42 April 25, 2008
Nyimu County, China: China is to hold talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom it blames for a wave of unrest, state media reported on Friday.
"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with the Dalai's private representative in the coming days," the official Xinhua news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying.
The move comes after concerted pressure from the West on China to talk to the Dalai Lama and marks the first serious step to defuse tensions .
Beijing had stepped up its villification of the Dalai Lama since anti-government protests hit Tibet and rippled across ethnic Tibetan parts of China in the past weeks.
An envoy to the Dalai Lama said on Friday he had received notice of China's offer to hold talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama.
"We have been told verbally, through private channels, that a meeting has been proposed," Dalai Lama envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen told Germany's Deutsche Welle broadcaster.
"We neither know the date, the location, nor the topics that must be addressed at the meeting," he added, speaking in German.
The European Union on Friday welcomed the announcement by China.
The Slovenian EU presidency said the Chinese decision was announced during a visit by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to Beijing and the readiness to hold talks was explicitly stated in an April 16 letter from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa.
"The Slovenian EU council presidency welcomes the People's Republic of China's announcement," a presidency statement said.
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