China Rules Out Autonomy For Tibet

Beijing: China today said it will talk only with the representatives of the Dalai Lama and not the officials of the Tibetan government in exile based in India but ruled out dialogue on the highest Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader's long-pending demand for autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was reacting to reports of the back-channel talks between the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Chinese government when he said China does not legitimise the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala.

"The so-called Xizang's government-in-exile is totally against the Chinese Constitution and laws. It is illegal," Mr Wang told a media briefing. "No country has recognised it," he added.

On Thursday, Sikyong or the political head of Tibet's government-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, told a visiting group of journalists in Dharamshala, India, "We have had back-channel (engagement) since last year. But we have no immediate expectations from it. It has to be a long-term (one)."

Insisting that the talks are "very informal," the head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said, "I have my interlocutor who deals with people in Beijing. Then there are other elements also trying to reach out to us."

According to Mr Wang, the Chinese government has "two basic principles for contacts with this (Dalai Lama's) group."

"First, we will only have talks with the representatives of the 14th Dalai Lama instead of the so-called representatives of the so-called government-in-exile or the so-called administrative centre," Mr Wang said.