World Tibet Network News Tuesday, June 30, 1998

By Carol Giacomo

BEIJING, Monday June 29 (Reuters) - President Jiang Zemin's unprecedented public remarks about Tibet at a news conference with President Clinton suggest China is more ready to hold a dialogue with its exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a senior U.S. official said Monday. "I think what you saw in public, what Jiang said, was very significant," said Jeffrey Bader, one of Clinton's chief advisers on China. "I cannot recall a Chinese leader ever talking about a multiple channel discussion with the Dalai Lama before, talking about openness to dialogue (and) the context in which it was offered suggests a new readiness to talk if certain conditions are met," he said. "I don't want to overplay or exaggerate how close they may be to a dialogue-- there are still conditions -- but the tone of what he said was new, and the fact that he was public about it for a nationwide audience was new."

Surprising U.S. officials and many others, Jiang not only allowed the news conference after his Saturday summit with Clinton to be televised nationally, he actually discussed Tibet -- one of the most sensitive matters for the Chinese leadership. China has long accused the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, of trying to split their motherland. U.S. officials had said before the summit that they saw no interest on the part of the Chinese in discussing Tibet with the United States and one official predicted Clinton would raise the touchy subject only during his private talks with Jiang. But at the start of their news conference, Clinton said he had urged Jiang "to resume a dialogue with the Dalai Lama in return for the recognition of Tibet as part of China, and in recognition of the unique cultural and religious heritage of that region." Jiang could have let the issue drop, but he did not, returning to the subject later. "As long as the Dalai Lama recognizes Tibet is an inalienable pa

rt of Chinaand that Taiwan is a province of China, then the door is open for dialogue and negotiations," he said. "I hope the Dalai Lama will make a positive response," he said.

Tibet's government-in-exile from its headquarters in Dharamsala in north India applauded Jiang for recognizing the importance of the Tibetan issue. "We ... applaud President Jiang Zemin for publicly recognizing the fact that Tibet is an important issue needing a solution and for indicating his willingness to have exchange of views and discussions on this," a statement by the department of information and international relations said. The statement also hailed Clinton for asking the Chinese government to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama for years has said he seeks only greater autonomy for Tibet. The globe-trotting cleric said in France this month he was optimistic about the region's long-term future and was maintaining informal contact with Beijing. Bader said the Dalai Lama has made comments over the last few months, including during a recent visit to the United States, "that were very positive about strengthening U.S.-China relations, about the way to deal with China. "China's suppressio

n of Tibetan nationalism has made the Himalayan region's fate a deeply emotive issue in the United States, where the Dalai Lama enjoys a spiritual star status enhanced by vocal support from Hollywood personalities.

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