(TibetanReview.net, Nov11’21) – As exile Tibetans keep squabbling over the question whether they should seek middle way autonomy or independence, China has reiterated its longstanding position Nov 10 that it was open for dialogue with the Dalai Lama, but only to discuss his personal future. The remark came from China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a media briefing when he was asked about the Dalai Lama’s remarks that day about wishing to visit the country.
The door for talks between the Chinese central government and the 14th Dalai Lama is always open, but it’s only limited to matters related to the personal future of the Dalai Lama, not the so-called Xizang (Tibet) issue, the official globaltimes.cn Nov 10 cited Wang as saying.
“But I have to stress that the talk could only be things related to the personal future of the Dalai Lama, rather than the so-called Tibet issue,” Wang has said.
However, Wang has then gone on to stress that what the “Dalai clique” needs to do is to truly abandon their position of “splitting the motherland” and stop related activities, and take concrete actions to win the trust of the central government and the Chinese people.
The suggestion here, of course, is that the Chinese government will talk with the Dalai Lama about his personal future only if he manages to convince the “Dalai clique” – whatever that may mean – to abandon their position of splitting China to Beijing’s full satisfaction.
The decades-long position of the Central Tibetan Administration is that China should grant autonomy to an ethnographically united Tibet within the framework of its existing constitution.
However, according to Wang, “the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile” is “a complete secessionist political clique” and an illegal organization in complete violation of Chinese Constitution and laws, which has not been recognized by any country in the world.
