TIBET-US: Tibet Seeks US Support for Talks with China

By Jim Lobe Reprint | | Print |

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Nov 11 1998 (IPS) - U.S. President Bill Clinton met the Dalai Lama Tuesday and the Tibetan leader called for informal consultations with China as a prelude to a sincere dialogue with Beijing authorities.

The Dalai Lama’s statement broke no new ground despite speculation that he would use his visit here to spell out a detailed proposal for his main goal: genuine autonomy for Tibet.

Instead, the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize winner stressed that he would not make a unilateral statement without the opportunity of prior informal consultation with the Chinese leadership. “I believe such an informal consultation needs to take place in order to forestall misunderstanding and to receive a positive response from the Chinese leadership,” he said.

Political analysts viewed his quest for private diplomacy, as tending to confirm reports that recent “back-door” contacts between the Dalai Lama and Beijing had broken down.

“The Chinese had signalled that he should talk directly to them if he wanted to advance this at all,” said one human-rights analyst who asked not to be identified. “He must have concluded that that was the only way to go at the moment.”

As a result, the Dalai Lama confined his remarks in Washington to re-iterating his views on autonomy – first enunciated some 10 years ago at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

“I am not seeking independence for Tibet, nor do my actions seek its separation from the People’s Republic of China,” he said after the meeting with Clinton. “I am for autonomy, genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people to preserve their distinct identity and way of life.”

For his part, Clinton, who will meet Jiang at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next week in Kuala Lumpur, did not directly address the Dalai Lama’s visit. But White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the two leaders had discussed “how best to increase the trust between China and Tibet and how to best move forward to establish a dialogue for both sides to resolve issues.”

The meeting in Washington followed widespread speculation about a possible breakthrough in the Dalai Lama’s efforts to win a special status for Tibet, from which he fled during an uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Beijing assumed control of the province in 1951.

That speculation was fuelled by an extraordinary televised debate between Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing last June when Jiang stated that the “door to dialogue and negotiation is open” if the Dalai Lama accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and Taiwan.

The conciliatory tone of Jiang’s remarks – Chinese leaders have normally accused the Tibetan leader of “splittism” and counterrevolutionary incitement – was seen by both the Dalai Lama and Washington as a major softening of the government’s line and a possible prelude to serious dialogue.

Clinton used the June news conference to urge Jiang to meet directly with the Dalai Lama. “I have spent time with the Dalai Lama,” he told the Chinese leader during the exchange which was broadcast throughout China. “I believe him to be an honest man, and I believe if he had a conversation with President Jiang, they would like each other very much.”

Adding to the more upbeat outlook here was the renewal after a three-year break of high-level talks between Beijing and Taiwan, which concluded with an unprecedented meeting last month between Jiang and Taiwan’s chief envoy.

The Dalai Lama had hoped that a breathkthrough would take the form of China’s approval of his visit next year of a Buddhist shrine in Shanxi province where he would meet with a senior Chinese official. US officials had been skeptical that Beijing would go along with such a proposal, but Tibetan activists here had not discouraged speculation that the trip would take place.

Chinese reaction in recent days, however, reverted to the past form. Last week, a Chinese embassy official denounced the Dalai Lama’s “splittist activities,” while the foreign ministry in Beijing asserted that “if the Dalai Lama adopts the method of mounting public opinion in the world in disregard of existing channels (of contacts), it only shows that he does not have sincerity.”

The Tibetan leader’s statement Tuesday appeared precisely to answer these concerns.

“After the experiences of the past four decades or so it is not surprising there there is an atmosphere of deep distrust between Tibetans and Chinese,” he said. “This distrust will not disappear in a day. It will dissipate only through sincere dialogue, and I am ready to respond to President Jiang’s offer to engage in such a dialogue.”

The Dalai Lama was full of praise for Clinton’s own interest in Tibet and for Jiang himself, insisting that he had been “encouraged” by the Chinese president’s remarks last June and noting that he “has taken a number of steps which not only bode well for China, but also contribute to improving China’s international standing.”

John Ackerly, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, told IPS he believes that the Chinese leadership in Beijing is split over what to do about Tibe. “Without agreement, the default option is to move to a more hardline position,” he said. “Obviously, there’s some frustration here about that.”

Ackerly and others were encouraged by the Dalai Lama’s White House reception where, due to longstanding Chinese diplomatic sensitivies, he originally was scheduled to meet only First Lady Hillary Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. As in the past, Clinton “dropped by” the meeting to pay his respects and inform him about his talks with Jiang last June.

But Lockhart’s statement after the meeting stressed U.S. support for the Dalai Lama’s diplomatic efforts and dropped the usual references to his status as a religious leader.

“It’s important that the administration is determined to keep a high profile on Tibet, particularly before his trip to APEC,” said Mike Jendrzejczyk, a top Asia analyst at Human Rights Watch.