By Anil K Joseph

Beijing, March 21 - The United States today asked China's ruling Communist Party leadership to talk to the Dalai Lama's representatives on the vexed Tibet issue and allow religious and political freedoms for its 1.3 billion people, including Tibetans.

"The United States hopes that there will be improved relations with the Catholic Church, with the Dalai Lama's representatives so that Tibetans can clearly pursue their cultural interests," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at the end of her talks with China's top leadership, including President Hu Jintao since yesterday.

China has ruled out talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama unless he renounces his quest for Tibetan independence and publicly states that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable part of Chinese territory.

"If Dalai sincerely hopes to improve the relations with the Central Government, he should face up to the reality in a comprehensive and objective way, truly give up his proposition of 'Tibet independence', and stop all actions of secession. He should also publicly declare that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and admit that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and the Government of the People's Republic of China is only legal government that represents China," the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said in a statement on March 15.

"The Central Government will listen to what he says and more importantly observe what he does," the statement had said in response to the Dalai's latest conciliatory statements on March 10.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising.