China ready to reopen dialogue with Dalai Lama

"There are channels for contact and we have adhered to several principles in our contact with the Dalai Lama", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told a press briefing. "The channels are clear", Zhang said, but she would neither confirm nor deny reports from India quoting the Dalai Lama as saying his brother, Gyalo Thundup, visited China in October to pass on his views to Communist Party leaders.

The Dalai Lama has responded by suggesting he send a delegation to China, a representative of the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala in India. China is willing to negotiate with the Dalai Lama if he accepts its conditions, Zhang said. He must "truly give up" independence attempts, "stop activities aimed at splitting China, and openly declare that Tibet is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and that Taiwan is part of China", she said.

He must accept the People's Republic of China as the "sole legal government" of both Tibet and Taiwan, she said. The Dalai Lama has said he plans to make his second visit to Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province, next year. When he visited Taiwan in 1997 and met with former president Lee Teng-hui, China accused the two of forming an alliance "to split the motherland."

The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's highest leader, fled to India in 1959 after an abortive revolt against Chinese occupation. He has renounced seeking independence for Tibet, instead vowing to secure maximum autonomy and religious freedom within China, but Chinese leaders have refused to meet him.

(la/dpa)