Dalai Lama envoys to head to China for talks

Envoys of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will fly to China on Friday for a new round of closed-door talks, his office said, despite Beijing's squeeze on his overseas trips.
China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have been engaged in conciliatory talks since 2002, although little progress has been made. Analysts say the desire for dialogue is driven in part by fear on both sides that if the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize dies in exile, it could lead to trouble in his homeland.
Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's top envoy to Washington, and Kelsang Gyaltsen would be accompanied by two senior assistants for the sixth round of talks, the Dalai Lama's office said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday, confirming a May 16 Reuters story.
The pair received their final instructions from the Dalai Lama on Tuesday during an audience in Dharamsala, northern India, which was also attended by Tibet's prime minister-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, the statement said. It gave no more details.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in Dharamsala since fleeing his Himalayan homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman's office, reached by telephone, had no immediate comment.
A source with knowledge of the trip told Reuters that the envoys were expected to hold talks in Beijing with officials of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, which is responsible for dealing with religious leaders and winning over non-Communists.
The Dalai Lama says he wants greater autonomy, not independence, for his predominantly Buddhist homeland, but China considers him a separatist. China recently sought to thwart the Dalai Lama's overseas trips.
This month, China protested against Australian Prime Minister John Howard's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer demanded China respect its democracy and said the Dalai Lama was welcome at any time, despite a dressing down from China over the visit. The Dalai Lama was also issued a visa to visit Brussels in May to meet members of the European Parliament and attend a conference of non-government organisations supporting Tibet.
But he was forced to cancel after the Belgian government informed him of Chinese displeasure with his visit ahead of a trip by Belgium's Prince Filip to China. In 2005, the Dalai Lama was also forced to scrap a visit to Brussels ahead of Belgian King Albert's visit to China.