At a press conference in London today the exiled Tibetan leader revealed that he and his officials have not had any contact with Beijing for over a year. The revelation highlighted the Dalai lama's repeated statement that his "middle way" approach has "achieved nothing" other than notional western support and has been a "failure". "I have appealed to the International Community to help start negotiations with the Chinese government without preconditions. This also failed. "Of course we have the right to regain our independence," the Dalai Lama said, making it clear that he believes Tibet was independent when the Chinese invaded. (EuroTibet News N·2)