DATE=4/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / TIBET (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261032
BYLINE=JON TKACH
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States' coordinator for Tibetan
issues says Beijing is "stonewalling" her efforts to
open talks between China and Tibet's exiled religious
leaders. State Department official Julia Taft told
members of Congress Thursday that China has repeatedly
rejected her requests for meetings. V-O-A's Jon Tkach
reports.
TEXT: Ms. Taft says she had reason to hope for
progress on Tibet following the 1998 summit between
President Clinton and his Chinese counterpart, Jiang
Zemin. But since then, she says, Beijing has thwarted
all efforts to get talks going between the Dalai Lama
and the Chinese leadership. However, she promises
that U-S leaders will not let the issue go away.
/// TAFT ACT ///
We've made no progress, but at every single
bilateral meeting, every trip that any official
takes to China it is on the agenda. It is
discussed.
/// END ACT ///
Chinese officials have repeatedly insisted that the
Dalai Lama wants independence for Tibet. China says
the Tibetan people are happy under the current system.
Lodi Gyari is a special envoy for the Dalai Lama, who
left Tibet for exile in India nine years after Chinese
troops took control of the region (in 1950). He says
the Tibetan Buddhist leader is willing to settle for
limited autonomy within the Chinese state, and that he
is not advocating complete Tibetan independence.
But Mr. Gyari says Chinese officials have adopted a
"hard-line stance," and continue to reject talks. He
is urging U-S lawmakers to help pressure Beijing on
the issue, and says that Chinese authorities are
stepping up their campaign against opposition in
Tibet.
The Dalai Lama's adviser thanked the U-S government
for drawing attention to the situation in Tibet, but
he says support from the Clinton administration has at
times been spotty.
/// GYARI ACT ///
There have been times I think it has dragged its
feet. I think it has not been consistent, and I
think this is something that the Chinese have
always taken full advantage of -- be it on
trade, be it on human rights or on any number of
bilateral relations.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Gyari says President Clinton has not been vocal
enough in supporting a U-S sponsored resolution at the
U-N Human Rights Commission that condemns China's
record. Many delegates, he says, are skeptical of the
resolution, viewing it as merely a ploy to win
Congressional approval for permanent normal trade
relations with China. (Signed)
NEB/JON/WTW
06-Apr-2000 17:17 PM EDT (06-Apr-2000 2117 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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