Beijing, June 11: A recent visit to China by envoys of the Dalai Lama produced encouraging signs for dialogue between Beijing and the Tibetan government in exile, the delegation's leader said today. The four-member delegation, led by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Dalai Lama's representative in Washington, was the second to visit China since the sides re-established contact in September 2002 after a nine-year break. The delegation returned Sunday after a 14-day visit.
The trip was the first since President Hu Jintao, a former Communist Party leader in Tibet, and other top Chinese leaders took office in March. There was no mention of a meeting with Hu, but Gyari said that exchanges with other newly appointed party officials in Beijing and elsewhere left the envoys feeling "greatly encouraged." "They have explicitly acknowledged the positive efforts made by the Tibetan leadership to create a conducive environment for the continuation of the present process," Gyari said in a written statement.
The envoys were impressed by the official's "attention and candor," said the statement, issued from the northern Indian town of Dharmsala where the Dalai Lama's government has been headquartered since he fled Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The sides agreed that "many areas of disagreement still exist," it said. Bureau Report