Rice urges China to start talks with Dalai Lama
WASHINGTON (AP) - March 24, 2008 A Chinese dialogue with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader,
Rice said, "is going to be the only policy that is sustainable in
Tibet."
The Dalai Lama, with his belief in nonviolence and "his
unassailable authoritative moral stature," can "play a very
favorable role" in seeking a peaceful resolution to unrest in
Tibet, Rice said at a news conference with Indian Foreign Minister
Pranab Mukherjee.
She repeated a U.S. call for Chinese restraint and the
abandonment of violence.
China demonizes the Dalai Lama as an agitator for Tibetan
independence. Beijing has faced harsh criticism after
demonstrations against Chinese rule turned violent March 14 in the
Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
Mukherjee said exiled Tibetans can carry on their religious
activities from their base in India. But, he warned, India will not
allow political activities that could disturb its relations with
other countries, referring to India-China ties.
China accuses the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, of
trying to harm its image ahead of the Beijing Summer Olympics.
Beijing berated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit last week to
the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, saying she was ignoring the
truth about Tibet.
But Rice praised Pelosi's trip. "To have contact with him, I
think, is a good thing, not a bad thing," Rice said.
