BEIJING -- More talks could be held between envoys of the Dalai Lama and Chinese authorities if the Tibetan spiritual leader openly demonstrates his support for the Beijing Olympics, officials said.
The demand was made during two days of meetings this week in Beijing between Chinese officials and two envoys sent by the Dalai Lama from his exile base in India, said the state Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.
Beijing has accused the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and his supporters of fomenting anti-government protests that rocked Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas of China in March.
Xinhua said that Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department, met the Tibetan envoys and said the Dalai Lama should "openly and explicitly" promise and prove through his actions that he does not support disruptions of the Beijing Olympics, nor plots to incite violence.
The Dalai Lama also must not support any effort to seek independence for Tibet, Du was quoted as saying by Xinhua, which cited a report from the United Front Work Department.
A spokesman for the Tibet exile government based in Dharmsala, India, Thupten Samphal, said the Dalai Lama had "gone out of his way to publicly announce his support for the Beijing Olympics. He has even said that he would like to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics to show his support."
Some experts believe Beijing agreed to the talks to ease international criticism that it was too heavy handed in its response demonstrations in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa in March.
-- The Associated Press
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