Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 0933 gmt 26 Apr 97

La Rochette (Savoie), 26th April: The Dalai Lama has again called for "real autonomy" for Tibet, stating that he was not seeking its independence from Beijing. The Tibetan spiritual leader was speaking on Saturday [as dateline] at La Rochette during a four-day course of instruction on Buddhism.

Asked to comment on recent staments by Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen demanding that the Dalai Lama should "publicly declare that Tibet was an inalienable part of China and that he was against Tibet' s independence" , the Tibetans' spiritual leader replied that he has had the same stance for "the past 18 years" .

"I am not asking for Tibet's independence but for its autonomy", he stated at a press conference, adding that it was "not up to (him) to change the course of history" in that part of the world occupied by China since 1951.

"I want to look to the future", he continued. From this standpoint," it would be positive for us to join our great neighbour on condition that we enjoyed real autonomy to manage our own interests" ...