Denmark welcomes resumption of talks on Tibet

DHARAMSALA - Welcoming the resumption of talks between China and exiled Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama over the political status of Tibet, Denmark has said that the two nations should ensure that the Tibetans attain genuine self-rule within the framework of the Chinese constitution.

Envoys of the Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, reached Beijing Tuesday for a meeting with Chinese government officials, the first since a November 2008 round of talks ended in mutual recrimination.

“I am very satisfied that the negotiations between representatives of the Dalai Lama and China have now been resumed after a 15-month break,” says a post quoting Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller on the website of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“I, therefore, again call on both parties to engage themselves constructively in the negotiations and hope that the dialogue will be carried through to a result which ensures that Tibetans attain genuine self-rule, with cultural and religious freedom and respect for human rights within the framework of the Chinese constitution,” said Moller.

He said that dialogue is the only way forward to a peaceful solution to the question of Tibet.

Earlier, the US welcomed the talks and said it “hopes this meeting will produce positive results and provide a foundation for future discussions to resolve outstanding issues”.

The two sides have held eight rounds of talks since 2002 to try and find a solution to the Tibetan issue.

During the last meeting, called the eighth round of talks, differences cropped up over the memorandum on genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people submitted by the exiles. The Chinese rejected it, saying that it was aimed at dividing China.

The Dalai Lama, 74, fled Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 and came to India. The Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered in this Himachal Pradesh town.