By Alexa Olesen
Lhasa (Tibet) July 4 : Talks between Beijing and envoys of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader, have made “no substantial progress,” the chairman of Tibet’s government said Tuesday.
Champa Phuntsok blamed the Dalai Lama for the lack of success in several rounds of low-profile visits by his envoys to Beijing, and repeated Chinese accusations that the Tibetan leader wants independence for the Himalayan region.
“There has been no substantial progress,” Phuntsok said in a rare news conference with Western reporters in the Tibetan capital.
Communist troops marched into Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled to India nine years later following a failed uprising. China’s government accuses the Dalai Lama of waging a clandestine campaign for formal independence, though he says he wants only greater autonomy in hopes of preserving Tibet’s Buddhist culture.
“He has never abandoned his goal of seeking independence for Tibet,” said Phuntsok.
He dismissed the Dalai Lama’s comments in recent interviews that he wanted to retire in Tibet and that he would not seek a political or religious position.
“These are only empty words, steps for him to reach independence for Tibet,” Phuntsok said.
He also criticized the Dalai Lama’s proposal for China to expand the official boundaries of Tibet to include areas in neighboring provinces that were part of the traditional Himalayan region and still have ethnic Tibetan populations.
“The goal is to press ahead with the independence of Tibet,” Phuntsok said. “Sources tell us that if this goal is achieved, he will be one step closer to his goal of independence for Tibet.”
Note: Champa Phuntsok is chairman of Chinese-occupied Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
