World Tibet Network News Sunday, February 08, 1998

NEW DELHI, Feb 6 (AFP) - The Dalai Lama Friday welcomed "the growing number of

Chinese in China" who are speaking out in support of Tibetan self-rule.

A spokesman for the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile, based in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala, said he admired the "courage" of certain Chinese dissident leaders who have called for talks with the Dalai Lama.

"We admire the courage of these Chinese who at considerable personal risk have urged the Chinese leadership to talk with the Dalai Lama and grant Tibet the degree of autonomy which exists in Hong Kong," spokesman Tempa Tsering said. "There is a clear indication that there is a growing number of Chinese in China who feel that it is in the best interest of China to settle the Tibetan issue peacefully and to the satisfaction of the Tibetan people," he added.

"We urge the Chinese government to listen to the voices of its own people on the issue of Tibet."

As well as being a base for the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader who fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed anti-China uprising, India is home to some 100,000 Tibetan exiles.

The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile is not recognised by any country. Fang Jue, a former government official, has urged the Chinese government to grant Tibet the "right to a genuinely autonomous political existence," Tsering said.

His view was echoed by Xu Wenli, a Chinese dissident, who asked the Chinese government to start talks with the Dalai Lama and grant Tibet the same sort of autonomy as Hong Kong, the spokesman said, adding they were "the lastest voices" from China supporting self-rule for Tibet.