COMMUNIQUE
Date : Le 25 janvier 2010
Les émissaires de Sa Sainteté le Dalaï Lama, Messieurs Lodi Gyari et Kelsang Gyaltsen, arriveront demain en Chine pour entamer des discussions avec les représentants des autorités chinoises. Après quinze mois d’intervalle, ce sera la 9ème rencontre sino-tibétaine pour la reprise des dialogues qui ont débuté en 2002.
Ils seront accompagnés des membres de la Task Force de la négociation, Ms Tenzin P. Atisha et Bhuchung K. Tsering, ainsi que de M. Jigmey Passang qui fait partie du secrétariat de la Task Force.
Récemment, la Task Force s’est réunie à Dharamsala, sous la présidence du Premier ministre Professeur Samdong Rinpoché, en vue de préparer leurs discussions à Pékin. Le 22 janvier dernier, le Premier ministre et les deux émissaires ont fait le point de la situation avec Sa Sainteté le Dalaï Lama et ont sollicité ses conseils.

Communiqué par
Chhime R. Chhoekyapa
Secrétaire
Bureau de Sa Sainteté le Dalaï Lama
DHARAMSALA
Inde
Traduction en français effectuée par le Bureau du Tibet, Paris.

Dalai Lama’s envoys to arrive in China tomorrow for ninth round of talks
Phayul[Monday, January 25, 2010 16:15]
By Phurbu Thinley

Dharamsala, Jan 25: The envoys of the exiled Tibetan leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, are to arrive in China tomorrow to hold the much awaited ninth round of talks with representatives of the Chinese leadership, the Office of the His Holiness the Dalai Lama said in a statement today.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen will arrive in China tomorrow for discussions with the representatives of the Chinese leadership. This is the ninth round of dialogue," the statement said.
"The Envoys are visiting China after a gap of 15 months in the process that began in 2002," it added.
According to the statement, the envoys will be accompanied by senior assistants Tenzin P. Atisha, Bhuchung K. Tsering, both members of Tibetan Task Force on Negotiations, and Jigmey Passang from the Secretariat of the Tibetan Task Force.
The statement said the preparations for the talks to be held in Beijing were finalised during the two-day meeting of the Tibetan Task Force held last week in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in north India.
The envoys also briefed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and sought his guidance, the statement said.
The delegation is expected to return to India at the beginning of next month, the statement said, but gave no further detail.
The two sides had met for eight rounds of talks, the last one being in November 2008, days before the exile Tibetans met for a “Special Meeting” to discuss the future of their freedom movement. The meeting was the largest of its kind in 60 years and was called by the Dalai Lama in response to lack of any signs of progress in the dialogue process and the worsening state of affairs within Tibet following widespread anti-China protests that broke out in the region in 2008.
Talks between Dalai Lama's envoys and Beijing came to a standstill after a ""Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” submitted by the Tibetan side at the eighth round of talks met with Beijing’s derision with the Chinese side calling it a demand for ‘half-independence’ and ‘disguised independence’ or ‘covert independence’.”
Tibetan side, however, maintains that the articles of the proposed memorandum were prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the PRC and its laws on National Regional Autonomy, and claims China has rejected the proposal without providing any “legal and rational explanations".
Following the eighth round of talks, the Tibetan Prime Minister Prof Samdhong Rinpoche, who also heads the Task Force, said at a public gathering in 2008 that the “Tibetan side had already made all the required clarifications and brought a process of dialogue that began in September 2002 to its logical conclusion.”
The Tibetan exile government in its statement on the 20th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize last month said it was committed to resume talks with Beijing on the basis of the "memorandum".
Earlier this month, the Tibetan prime minister told Asia Times Online that his government was ready to sidestep the blame game with China and would seek the earliest resumption of talks.
"The dialogue process may hopefully take a new shape this year," Rinpoche said. "I will not say that I have great expectations, but I would say that we have hope that some improvement will come in the process. We only demand people's support and unity regarding this issue and hope it will be resolved.”
"I do not need to say anything else, whatever is in progress is going good, and things will be resolved," Rinpoche said of the deadlock in the talks.
"The Tibet issue needs to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation between the Tibetan and People's Republic of China leadership," the Tibetan PM said, adding "I wish Tibetans' hopes will become a reality."

Dalai Lama's envoys leave for talks in China

ICT press release, January 25, 2010

The Dalai Lama's envoys, led by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, arrive in China tomorrow for talks with Chinese officials, the Tibetan government in exile announced today
http://dalailama.com/news/post/484-press-statement.

Results from eight previous rounds since 2002 have failed to meet the expectations of the international community.

Mary Beth Markey, Vice President for Advocacy of the International Campaign for Tibet , said today: "We welcome Dharamsala's announcement as a sign that both sides see some value in continuing their dialogue. But given the context of the continuing repression in Tibet , and an overall backsliding from the Chinese government on human rights, we hope that this time there will be an indication that the Chinese side is interested in engaging in a results-based dialogue."

Since the Tibetans and Chinese last met in 2008 (October 31 - November 5), there have been serious developments in Tibet including the sentencing of Tibetans on political charges related to alleged contact with the so-called “Dalai clique” in the context of a severe crackdown on expressions of Tibetan identity and an aggressive campaign to misrepresent the Dalai Lama's position internationally.

Last week, President and Party Secretary Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao presided over the 5th Tibet Work Forum, an important conference that determines Chinese government policy on Tibet . The Fourth work forum convened in June 2001.

Mary Beth Markey said: "The timing of the talks directly after the Fifth Work Forum could signal a new momentum in internal Chinese government interest in resolving Tibet issues that will inform and carry through this round of dialogue with the Dalai Lama's envoys."

During the previous round of dialogue, the Tibetan side presented the most detailed and substantive document offered by either side in six years of talks: a memorandum that articulated a concept of genuine autonomy for Tibetans within the People's Republic of China . The proposal was specifically requested by the Chinese side in the May 2008 round. After the meeting, one of the Chinese interlocutors, official Zhu Weiqun categorically denounced the ŒMemorandum on Genuine Autonomy for Tibetans' and embarked upon a propaganda offensive against the Dalai Lama's position (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/10/content_10336956.htm and http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/no-progress-eighth-round-dialogue-chinese-reject-autonomy-proposal).

A White House spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that President Obama "most certainly" will meet the Dalai Lama this year, and that this has been conveyed to Beijing . White House spokesman Mike Hammer told foreign journalists: "The President has made clear to the Chinese government that we intend to meet with the Dalai Lama, it has been his every intention."


Press contact:
Kate Saunders
Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet
email: press@savetibet.org
Tel: + 44 (0) 7947 138612




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The International Tibet Support Network (ITSN) is a global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organisations. Its purpose is to maximise the effectiveness of the worldwide Tibet movement, which is dedicated to ending human rights violations in Tibet and to working actively to restore the Tibetan people's right under international law to determine their future political, economic, social, religious and Cultural status.

ITSN pursues its goals by working to increase the capacity of individual Member Organisations, through the coordination of strategic campaigns and by increased cooperation among organizations, thereby strengthening the Tibet movement as a whole. See www.tibetnetwork.org for more information.

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