Dalai Lama’s envoys in China for Tibet negotiations

The future of the exiled spiritual leader will also be discussed

BEIJING: Amid a volley of anti-Dalai Lama rhetoric and mutual distrust, Tibetan envoys have started in-camera negotiations with Chinese officials on the vexed Tibet issue and the future of the exiled and ageing Tibetan spiritual leader.

Lodi Gyari, who represents the Dalai Lama in Washington, Kelsang Gyaltsen and two assistants, have reportedly arrived in  Shanghai  for the sixth round of talks with Chinese government officials, sources said.

Official Chinese media has kept mum on the latest visit by the envoys and their talks with officials from the ruling Communist Party’s United Front Work Department.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959. “A proposal by the Dalai Lama to go for a pilgrimage in China is expected to be discussed,” a source said. The Dalai Lama, who will turn 72 this week, has consistently said that he does not seek independence for Tibet but aims for a solution based autonomy within the People’s Republic of China.

But China questions the Dalai Lama’s sincerity and describes the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate as a “separatist”.

“To know the Dalai Lama we should not only listen to what he says, but also look at what he has done,” the senior Tibetan official alleged. He alleged the Dalai Lama’s call for a “high-degree autonomy for Tibet” is against the people’s wishes.