THE central government of China has maintained regular contact with the Dalai Lama and the door of communication will not be closed in the future, said Qiangba Punco, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region’s government.
Speaking before the close of the National People’s Congress, he said he hopes the Dalai Lama will take stock of the situation and “do things beneficial to the Tibetan people.”
He said the Dalai Lama has maintained his independence stance, although he has changed his tactics and called for negotiations.
For many years, China’s central government has made great efforts and showed sincerity to facilitate negotiations, Qiangba Punco said. But the talks have not achieved results.
The responsibility for this totally rests with the Dalai Lama’s side, he said.
If Western nations really care for the Dalai Lama, they should try to persuade him to size up the situation, drop any fantasies and take actions that benefit the Tibetan people.
When the private envoy of the Dalai Lama came to China for the first time in 1979, senior leader Deng Xiaoping pointed out that the fundamental issue was that Tibet is part of China – and this should be universally applicable when judging whether things are right or wrong.
Since then, Beijing has allowed the Dalai Lama’s delegates to return many times for further discussions. The Dalai Lama’s second eldest brother visited China over 10 times.
From the communication between the central government and the Dalai Lama, it is obvious that the Dalai Lama has been changing his tactics, but not his “Tibet independence” stance or his efforts to split the motherland, Qiangba Punco said.
He said the Dalai Lama has adjusted strategy and created favorable international public opinion in the name of negotiations.
NOTE: Xinhua is the official news agency of the PRC.
