By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala, January 25 – The fifteen – month standoff between the Tibetan exile government and Chinese leadership ended as His Holiness the Dalai Lama Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen have left for China to hold the ninth round of talks between the two sides.
A press statement issued today by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama said the Envoys will arrive in China tomorrow for “discussions with the representatives of the Chinese leadership.”
“They will be accompanied by senior assistants Tenzin P. Atisha, Bhuchung K. Tsering, both members of Tibetan Task Force on Negotiations, and Jigmey Passang from the Secretariat of the Tibetan Task Force,” the statement said.
The Tibetan delegation had finalised their preparations for the discussions in Beijing at the 20th meeting of the Tibetan Task Force chaired by Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche. The Kalon Tripa and the two Envoys briefed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and sought his guidance on January 22.
The delegation is expected to return to India at the beginning of next month.
The two sides had met at eight round of talks, the last one being in November 2008, days before the exile Tibetans met for a “Special Meeting” to discuss the future of their freedom movement. The meeting was the largest of its kind in 60 years and was called by the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama in response to lack of any signs of progress in the dialogue process and the worsening state of affairs within Tibet following widespread anti-China protests that broke out in the region in 2008.
Talks between Dalai Lama’s envoys and Beijing had come to a standstill after a “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” submitted by the Tibetan side at the eighth round of talks met with Beijing’s derision with the Chinese side calling it a demand for ‘half-independence’ and ‘disguised independence’ or ‘covert independence’.”
