World Tibet Network News Friday, June 19, 1998

PARIS, June 18 (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama has said that he was maintaining informal contacts with Beijing and was optimistic about the long-term future of Tibet despite China's refusal to discuss his demands for autonomy.

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet told the French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Thursday he had had no official contacts with China for the past five years.

However, he added: ``Unofficially, I am maintaining contacts with the Chinese government through various private communication channels.''

``The nature of these contacts seems to be more serious now. I have reasons to be optimistic,'' he said.

The Dalai Lama, who visited France this week, said he was hopeful that the situation in Tibet, taken over by Chinese forces almost half a century ago, would improve as China opens up to the world.

``If you look at the situation inside Tibet, things are indeed getting worse. But if you take a wider view, there are sure signs that China is opening up,'' he said.

``Some Chinese people remain quite radical, but others are more moderate and have recently written articles in China to back my position -- although they are indeed in limited numbers,'' he said.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace prize winner, reiterated that he was seeking real autonomy rather than independence for Tibet and would stick to non-violent methods.

He has said U.S. President Bill Clinton would raise the question of Tibetan autonomy when he visits China from June 25, but he did not expect any breakthrough.

The Chinese embassy in Washington this week accused the Dalai Lama of seeking the ``restoration of feudal serfdom of old Tibet'' and hinted that Beijing would take a hard line if Clinton pressed the issue of autonomy.

The Dalai Lama, the 14th in a line of Tibetan Buddhist leaders with that title, fled to India in 1959 to live in exile and lobby the international community to rally to his cause.