The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

(The Tibet Post International 10 November 2008) BEIJING—Zhu Weiqun, executive Vice Minister of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) United Front Work Department, spoke about the eighth round of talks between Chinese leadership and the Tibetan delegation at a press conference held by Chinese State Council Information Office earlier this morning.  

Zhu said that during the meetings between China and the Tibetan delegation led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi Gyaltsen “the atmosphere remained frank and sincere,” but that the meeting “failed to make progress and [the Tibetan delegation] should assume full responsibility for it.” The Tibetan delegation has yet to issue its own statement on the outcome of the meeting.

The Tibetan delegation travelled to Beijing on 30 October to present Chinese leadership with a memorandum defining a meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people. But China is unwilling to compromise its position. “The unification of the motherland, territorial integrity and national dignity are the greatest interests of the Chinese people,” said Zhu. “We will never make a concession.”

Zhu went on to say that the memorandum presented by the Tibetan delegation aimed at “revising the constitution so that this separatist group could actually possess the power of an independent state," and would give non-Tibetans less rights.

A special meeting of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan officials in exile is expected to take place in Dharamsala, India on 17 November to discuss future approaches towards negotiations with China.  The Tibetan delegation is expected to issue an official statement after this meeting. Up to this point the Dalai Lama has maintained a “middle ground” approach for autonomy towards China, despite protests and demonstrations by many Tibetans for a free and independent Tibet. China has continually rejected the Dalai Lama’s demand for a meaningful autonomy as a form of “covert independence."