World Tibet Network News Saturday, June 27, 1998

NEW DELHI, June 27 (AFP) - A spokesman for the Dalai Lama on Saturday denied that the Chinese government had opened "several channels of communication "with the exiled Tibetan leader. Speaking in reaction to a statment by President Jiang Zemin, the spokesman said that Jiang's offer of dialogue was "unacceptable", adding there was "not anything new and it is the same wine in a new bottle." "There is no channel of communication open at this time. The only real communication was a long time back, around 1979 and 1980," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The Chinese said then they were ready for a dialogue and asked the Dalai Lama to choose the venue. His Holiness put together a delegation and suggested talks in Switzerland but there was no response." Jiang said in a press conference Saturday after a summit with US president Bill Clinton that China had "several channels of communication" with the Dalai Lama.

He said there could be dialogue if the Dalai Lama stated that Tibet was part of China and Taiwan was a province of China. He said he hoped the Tibet leader would "make a positive response. "The Dalai Lama told the French newspaper Le Monde last week that since 1993 he had no official contacts with Beijing but he kept contacts open with China through "private unofficial channels. "The spokesman said the Dalai Lama was ready to have a dialogue with China" anytime, anywhere. He has always said that. "He said the Chinese insistence on proclaiming Tibet a part of China was "unacceptable." Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1951. The Dalai Lama and some 100,000 Tibetans fled to India after Beijing crushed an anti-Chinese uprising in Tibet in 1959.