Dalai Lama Gives Up On China Talks

Says Beijing Hasn't Responded To Efforts To Allow Greater Tibetan Autonomy

(AP)  The Dalai Lama said Saturday he has given up on efforts to convince Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said he would now ask the Tibetan people to decide how to take the dialogue forward.

China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama has denied the allegations, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the Himalayan region to protect its unique Buddhist culture - a policy he calls the "middle way."

"I have been sincerely pursuing the middle way approach in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn't been any positive response from the Chinese side," he said in Tibetan at a public function Saturday in Dharmsala, the north Indian town that is home to Tibet's government-in-exile.

"As far as I'm concerned I have given up," he said in an unusually blunt statement.

"The issue of Tibet is not the issue of the Dalai Lama alone. It is the issue of 6 million Tibetans. I have asked the Tibetan government-in-exile, as a true democracy in exile, to decide in consultation with the Tibetan people the future course of action," the Dalai Lama said.

His speech was translated by his spokesman, Tenzin Takhla.

The spiritual leader's comments come ahead of a new round of talks between his envoys and Chinese government officials at the end of October. Those talks are still on track, according to Chhime R. Chhoekyapa, another spokesman for the Dalai Lama.

Most Tibetans have supported the Dalai Lama's push for autonomy for the region. The Tibetan Youth Congress is the only major activist group that is advocating full independence for Tibet.

Beijing insists Tibet has belonged to China for centuries. Many Tibetans, however, say the region was effectively an independent nation until Chinese Communist troops invaded in 1950.

Phone calls to China's United Front Work Department, the Communist Party agency that handles contacts with the Dalai Lama, rang unanswered Saturday.

The Dalai Lama has been living in Dharmsala since fleeing Tibet after an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

[samsel3]

The problems in Tibet are over Oil & Natural Gas. Tibetans are being driven off their land for Big Oil & Gas Consortiums. The people of Tibet will not see any benefits by greedy multi-national corporations.

Chinese researchers have discovered massive new gas and oil deposits totaling an estimated 4 billion to 5.4 billion tons in Tibet in southwestern China, the newspaper China Daily reported. September 5, 2001 UN Global Policy Forum

China''s lucrative natural resources in the west are gaining international investment and political support, regardless of the accuracy of its oil and gas reserve estimates in the Qiantang basin. Already, BP has invested $578 million in Chinese oil company PetroChina, and along with ENI/Agip, is aiding its drilling on the Tibetan plateau.

HONG KONG, July 4 ,2002 (AFP) - Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co, has signed a framework agreement with an international consortium led by Dutch/Shell Group to build an 8.5 billion dollar east-west gas pipeline, it announced Thursday.
Shell, along with consortium partners ExxonMobil of the United States and Russia''s OAO Gazprom, will each have a 15 percent

[wcreader]

%u201CDalai Lama Gives Up On China Talks%u201D?? Is it another game Lama and his so call "Tibetan government-in-exile" gang try to play? be real! Is he really sincere in the talk?? It is so shame of AP again to act as Dalai Lama%u2019s special speaker.
AP said %u201CMost Tibetans have supported the Dalai Lama''s push for autonomy for the region%u201D where is the proof? %u201CSpiritual leader? Dalai Lama is talking daily on politic? Is that ture that his gang lie, attack, and use violent toward a handicap lady prior the Olympic game? Who is mixed up politic with religious? Weren%u2019t Dalai Lama and his gang the salve master before exile to India in 1950s? What a bias, one sided report to solely be the spoke person for this special interest group! Shame on AP.

[sopheapang]

Dalying Lama Can now focus on being a parasite that he has always been. Whether CIA will continue to give him hand-outs is a different story.

[leondz]

Lixiangmei - Please don''t patronise foreigners. Remember also that your government is no more elected than the government in exile, and if you use "which no body has ever voted", you invalidate a lot of the higher-up party.

Indianaman - the British did it earlier in the 20th century, and yet they take no flak. Think about which side of the propaganda curtain you''re on. Plenty of really good things have been done for Tibet by the Chinese (installation of sewage systems, bicultural education, healthcare raising the life expectancy from 45 to around 60); the situation is not unilaterally aggressive and offensive to the Tibetans. Also remember that the Tibetan natives started the March riots by killing and burning innocent Chinese settlers, not Chinese military or government forces.

Shyam8 - Please try not to confuse a country''s government with its people. Remember, not every American is a Bush ;)

[krescera]

Both China and Mugabe have proved how persistence pays in defiance of the so-called world opinion.

[typ7777]

To All brainwashed people or fooled by western Medias. If you have some money, Please have a trip to Tibet. Ask the local Tibetan farmer: Are you a Chinese or not? You will get the real answer! Know why I called you have be fooled.

[leondz]

Lixiangmei - Please don''t patronise foreigners. Remember also that your government is no more elected than the government in exile, and if you use "which no body has ever voted", you invalidate a lot of the higher-up party.

Indianaman - the British did it earlier in the 20th century, and yet they take no flak. Think about which side of the propaganda curtain you''re on. Plenty of really good things have been done for Tibet by the Chinese (installation of sewage systems, bicultural education, healthcare raising the life expectancy from 45 to around 60); the situation is not unilaterally aggressive and offensive to the Tibetans. Also remember that the Tibetan natives started the March riots by killing and burning innocent Chinese settlers, not Chinese military or government forces.

Shyam8 - Please try not to confuse a country''s government with its people. Remember, not every American is a Bush ;)

[shyam8]

cdfoxtrot4

Give me a break! Barrack Obama is no Dalai Lama. Obama is a worthless creep from Chicago.

[indianaman13]

Lix, have you not read the report on how corrupt china is? My god they print up state documents to hide the true age of an gymnast who the world knows wasn''t old enough just to get a little disk of metal. Screw the Government in exile and the Communists who forcefully subdued a peaceful people who did no harm and intended no harm to China. What kind of people take over another country for no reason? There is no excuse for such vile actions.

[cdfoxtrot4]

The Chinese are just waiting for the Dalai Lama to die. Just like the Israelis waited for Chairman Arafat to die. When leaders like these disappear, it can take several generations for a similar leader to emerge. Sort of like JFK and Senator Obama now.

[lixiangmei45]

first the Tibetan government-in-exile is made up of a buch of corrupt officials(which no body has ever voted).they do not have the right to set any future action on behalf of the Tibet people .Second not a lot of people tink a idepent Tibet is a good idea.we must foust on the presedent ;what the central government has done for the Tibeten people.and bye the way when did you make that call ?I hope it is not at midnight,becaus there is a time zone problem.no offence ,just some of you may make some simple mistakes from time to time.