NEW DELHI, October 2 – Envoys of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had “good” meetings during their trip to China aimed at building contacts, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile said on Saturday without giving details.
Lodi Gyari, a U.S.-based representative of the Dalai Lama, and three colleagues who were in China from Sept. 12 on a third, secrecy-shrouded visit by envoys in just over two years to discuss the future of the Himalayan region, returned to India on Friday.
“Its good, it was to establish relations with the Chinese authorities,” Thupten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile told Reuters from its base in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamsala.
Samphel declined to give any details on the visit or who the envoys met. He said the envoys could make a public statement after reporting to the Dalai Lama, upon his return from Central America, and to the Tibetan parliament.
The head of the International Campaign for Tibet said the delegation appeared to be treading carefully to avoid upsetting any agreement that might have been reached.
“The delegation is trying to demonstrate to China that they are handling the public relations….professionally and in a diplomatic manner so that whatever was achieved can move forward and won’t be undermined in any way,” John Ackerly said.
Beijing imposed communist rule on Tibet after its troops invaded in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled in 1959 in an abortive uprising. Direct contact between the exiled Tibetans and Beijing was not established for 20 years and dialogue was suspended in 1993.
Two years ago talks were quietly revived amid signs China might have decided to allow a subtle but significant shift in policy that could be aimed at finding a way to unwind the Tibetan knot by allowing the Dalai Lama back — under certain conditions.
