China says willing to meet Dalai Lama's envoys

A pro-Tibet activist holds a picture of the Dalai Lama during a demonstration in Paris March 10, 2009 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against China.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that China was open to more talks with envoys for the Dalai Lama as long as the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader renounces what Beijing describes as separatism.

Wen said China's policies toward Tibet were correct and the region was peaceful and stable, even as security forces enforce a lockdown on ethnic Tibetan regions a year after protests and demonstrations.

Chinese officials and envoys from the Dalai Lama -- branded by Beijing as a "splittist" -- have held previous rounds of talks but little of substance has been achieved.

"This kind of talks can continue. The key is that the Dalai Lama must demonstrate his sincerity so that the talks can achieve substantive results," Wen told a news conference at the end of the annual session of the Chinese parliament.

From Dharamsala, the North Indian hill station where the Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered, an aide said the Dalai Lama was "always open to talks."

"Regardless of what the Chinese prime minister said, we have made it very clear that our envoys are ready for any dialogue," Chhime Chhoekyapa told Reuters by telephone.

The Dalai Lama marked March 10, the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising and his exile, with a speech in India calling for "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet and lamenting how his homeland had become a "hell on earth" thanks to the Chinese.

The Nobel Prize-winning Buddhist monk denies China's charge that he is a separatist and seeks instead a "middle way." China insists on only discussing his "personal status."

"This is something which we need to welcome and we are always ready to send his Holiness's envoys at any time," said Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister-in-exile.

"We have already given our inspirations in writing in the last round of dialogue in November last year."

Wen appeared to create leeway for repairing relations with France by suggesting it was the prominence of French President Nicholas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama last year, when Sarkozy held the rotating EU presidency, that riled China.

China had previously objected to the fact the two met.

"The problems that have arisen between China and France arose mainly because the French leader met the Dalai Lama in a prominent way," Wen said. "This not only involved the core interests of China, it also seriously harmed the feelings of the Chinese people."

POPULAR CAUSE

The Tibetan cause is popular in France and throughout Europe, and hundreds of Tibetan flags flew from town halls and ministry buildings on March 10. A Tibetan flag hung from the city hall in Paris was torn down by two Chinese nationals, Chinese media said.

Wen accused the West of exploiting the Dalai Lama, whom he described as a political exile rather than a religious figure.

"The Dalai Lama runs around the world to various countries, and can intoxicate some in the political world. Some western countries exploit him," Wen said.

In Washington, a U.S. expert on Tibet told an advisory body to Congress that China's refusal to accept the Dalai Lama's frequent renunciation of Tibetan independence was part of a long-term strategy to outlast the 73-year-old monk.

"This is just another in the string of moves which drags it all along because the policy is to wait for the Dalai Lama to pass away," Elliot Sperling of Indiana University told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

On March 14, 2008, Lhasa erupted into riots after days of demonstrations by monks calling for more religious freedom. A Tibetan crowd burned shops belonging to Han Chinese and Hui Muslims, killing 19 people.

Groups abroad demanding Tibetan self-rule have said more than 200 Tibetans died across the region in the subsequent crackdown. Chinese officials have rejected these claims.

Wen described Tibet now as peaceful and stable.

"The peacefulness of Tibet and its ongoing progress have proven that the policies we have adopted are correct," he said.

In Tibet proper and Tibetan regions in surrounding provinces, security forces have stationed themselves in towns and at roadblocks to avoid a repeat of last March.

In some regions, the Internet and mobile phone text messaging are blocked, while Tibetans are prevented from crossing other borders. Ethnically Tibetan areas, including Tibet proper, have been closed to foreigners.

China has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since People's Liberation Army troops marched into the region in 1950.

(Additional reporting by Bappa Majumdar in New Delhi, Sunil Kataria in Dharamsala and Paul Eckert in Washington; Editing by John O'Callaghan)