05 July 2008
Dalai Lama’s envoys issue statement
(CTA; AP) In a statement issued in Dharamsala following the most recent round of talks in Beijing, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, the Dalai Lama's special envoys, said that "The Chinese side expressed the view that the dialogue process has been productive and that we need to keep in mind that a half-a-century-old issue of great complexity, cannot be resolved in a matter of years". They, however, also stated that, despite their hope that recent unrest in Tibet would encourage China to adopt a more positive approach, "on the contrary, due to their excessive concern about legitimacy, the Chinese side even failed to agree to our proposal of issuing a joint statement with the aim of committing both parties to the dialogue process". Although the Tibetan envoys agreed to attend a further round of talks in October, after the Olympics, the statement added: "We were compelled to candidly convey to our counterparts that in the absence of serious and sincere commitment on their part, the continuation of the present dialogue process would serve no purpose". Beijing rejected the accusations that it was not serious about talks over the status of Tibet. "The central government is sincere about holding contact with the Dalai side", foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters. "Both sides have expressed their will to continue the contact".