CHINA: Chinese officials say "high-level autonomy" for Tibet will never be accepted by Beijing

Record ID: 858175

  • Title: CHINA: Chinese officials say "high-level autonomy" for Tibet will never be accepted by Beijing
  • Date: 10th November 2008
  • Summary: (ASIA) XIAHE, GANSU PROVINCE, CHINA (FILE - 2008) (REUTERS) CHINESE SOLDIERS MARCHING ON STREET TIBETAN MONKS WALKING NEAR MONASTERY
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAC66P3B0WANRJHR6WXD7GWEJUD
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  • Story Text: Any demands by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for Tibetan autonomy are out of the question but dialogue will continue, a leading Chinese official said on Monday (November 10).
    Zhu Weiqun, a Vice Minister of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, told a news conference that the Dalai Lama's envoys last week had presented a memorandum urging "genuine autonomy" for all Tibetans.
    But Zhu said China will "never allow ethnic splitting in the name of 'genuine autonomy' to undermine ethnic solidarity".

    "The central authorities said that the door for the Dalai Lama's return to a patriotic stance had always been open and would remain open in the future. However the door for Tibet independence, half independence and covert independence has never been open and nor will it be open in the future,"
    said Zhu, whose department oversees the Party's dealings with religious organisations and other non-Communist groups.
    Zhu's remarks were Beijing's first detailed comment on the talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama that ended last week.
    The minister blasted the memorandum and said no progress had been made through the latest talks.

    "The central government has made it very clear, the door for the Dalai Lama is open, but not for the independence," said Zhu.
    Those talks were the first since the Beijing Olympics in August, where pro-Tibet groups held sporadic protests.
    His comments also come during an agenda-setting debate among exiled supporters of the Dalai Lama, many of whom will attend a meeting he has called to discuss the future of their cause.
    Those talks will give a platform to exiles demanding independence for Tibet rather than their revered leader's idea of autonomy under Chinese sovereignty.
    Beijing says the Dalai Lama's demands for high-level autonomy for the mountain region amount to independence in all but name.
    The 73-year-old Buddhist leader suggested this month that his "middle way" for Tibet short of outright independence was failing, and speculation has grown that he wants to step back from day-to-day political leadership after a bout of poor health.
    He is not attending the Nov 17-22 exiles meeting, perhaps a sign that he wants to leave this debate to a newer generation.
    The Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.
    He has since lived in India, travelling the world to promote his cause.
    China accuses the Dalai's supporters of fomenting violent unrest in Tibet in a bid to upset the Beijing Olympics in August.
    The Dalai Lama has strongly rejected that claim.
    Critics of China's rule in Tibet say it stifles religious and cultural freedom and promotes development that skews wealth and opportunities away from poor Tibetans while encouraging influxes of Chinese labour from other parts.
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