BEIJING – The doors of communication between China’s Central government and the Dalai Lama are wide open, a senior Chinese official was quoted as saying on Thursday by Xinhua news agency.
Zhuang Congsheng, an official with the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remark at a news conference.
But Zhuang said talks with the Dalai Lama would depend on his abandoning any move to seek independence for Tibet.
“So long as the Dalai Lama abandons his position on seeking Tibetan independence and publicly recognizes Tibet as an inalienable part of Chinese territory, contacts and discussions between him and the central government on his own future can be carried out,” he said.
In recent years, the Dalai Lama, who heads the Tibetan government in-exile based in India, has said he is willing to forego the demand for independence if Beijing grants greater autonomy to Tibet.
Senior officials of the Tibetan government have held talks with Chinese officials in recent months.
