Published by: World Tibet Network News Issue Id: 97/10/28

NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (AFP) - A Tibetan official on Tuesday asked Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President Bill Clinton to find a solution to the Tibetan issue during their meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

The official in a statement from the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama's exiled government is located, said the two presidents should also call the Tibetan spiritual leader to the talks.

"We welcome the meeting," Tempa Tsering, a spokesman for the Tibetan government, said in a statement.

"We hope this will help China to face the changes of the 21st century by shaking off the legacy of its troubled and tormented past.

"We believe the summit provides the best opportunity for the American and Chinese presidents to discuss the issue of Tibet so as to find a solution which gives the Tibetan people genuine self-rule," Tsering said.

The Dalai Lama has been living in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959 following an abortive anti-Chinese revolt. India is also home to more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles.

Tsering said: "Besides meeting with the American president, Jiang is visiting some of the most enduring symbols of American freedom and liberty.

"It is high time he translates his symbolic gesture to democracy and liberty abroad into concrete action back home."

Beijing annexed the Himalayan territory, sandwiched between India and China, in the 1950s and is accused of widespread rights abuses there.