China Says Tibet Talks Only With Dalai Lama's Reps, Rules Out Autonomy
NDTV
The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 during the forceful and illegal occupation of Tibet by neighbouring country China. The Dalai Lama came to India where he set up the government-in-exile at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
China today said it will talk only with the representatives of the Dalai Lama and not the officials of the Tibetan government in exile based in India but ruled out dialogue on the highest Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader's long-pending demand for autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was reacting to reports of the back-channel talks between the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Chinese government when he said China does not legitimise the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala.
"The so-called Xizang's government-in-exile is totally against the Chinese Constitution and laws. It is illegal," Mr Wang told a media briefing. "No country has recognised it," he added.
