Beijing Rrejects US Appeal To Negotiate With Dalai Lama
(AFP | Beijing | March 9, 2002)
China on Saturday rejected the latest US appeal for it to start a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader "is not a purely religious figure", a foreign ministry spokesman said, reiterating Beijing's characterisation of the Dalai Lama as a feudal lord who helped keep the people of Tibet in serfdom.
"For a long time he has been trying to split China from abroad," the spokesman, Kong Quan, said in a statement. "If the Dalai Lama sincerely wants dialogue with the Chinese government, he must cease to promote the independence of Tibet, cease his separatist activity, declare that Tibet is an integral part of China and recognise that Taiwan is a Chinese province," the spokesman said in a statement.
The spokesman also took a sideswipe at Paula Dobriansky, the US State Department's Tibet coordinator who issued the call for dialogue on Thursday.
"Without taking account of the facts a US official has made unfounded criticisms of the Chinese government, obviously with other intentions," Kong said.
"That can only engender contempt and opposition from the Chinese people."
Dobriansky told a congressional hearing on Thursday that China risked fanning resistance in Tibet and was harming its global reputation by refusing to talk to the Dalai Lama.
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