China says talks on Tibet only with Dalai Lama's representatives; rules out dialogue on autonomy

Dalai Lama

BEIJING: China on Friday said it will talk only with the representatives of the Dalai Lama and not the officials of the Tibetan government in exile based in India but ruled out dialogue on the highest Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader’s long-pending demand for autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was reacting to reports of the back-channel talks between the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Chinese government when he said China regards the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamshala as a “separatist” bloc.

“The so-called Xizang’s government-in-exile is a completely separatist political bloc. It is totally against the Chinese Constitution and laws. It is illegal,” Wang told a media briefing here. “No country has recognised it.”