Tibetan leader resumes contact with Beijing

The Dalai Lama has resumed direct contact with the Chinese government, nine years after formal ties were cut, his envoy said yesterday.

Lodi Gyari – who has just completed the first diplomatic mission to China on behalf of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in 20 years – said direct links have been restored and that Beijing appeared open to the possibility of talks on Tibetan autonomy.

Mr Lodi said: "Since I had the opportunity to meet the Chinese leaders in Beijing in the early 1980s, what impressed us more this time was the much greater flexibility displayed by the current leaders."

His words were met with scepticism by the London-based Free Tibet Campaign. Alison Reynolds, the independent group's director, said: "It is clear there is intense diplomacy at work here. We would have fundamental concerns about some of the issues discussed.

"How genuine is China about wanting to engage in talks? It makes China look good to be seen to be at least addressing an issue that is of international concern."

Chinese media was silent on the subject yesterday. In recent days, officials have reiterated the government's position, condemning the Dalai Lama for seeking outright independence for Tibet.

But the Dalai Lama has tempered his approach, and says he is only seeking autonomy for his homeland – a proposal described as "the middle way approach", which Mr Lodi believes the Chinese authorities are warming to.

Ms Reynolds said yesterday: "I wouldn't like to see the Tibetan government in exile making any more concessions. The cards are frankly held by the Chinese side."

The Chinese Communists' often brutal occupation of the Dalai Lama's Himalayan homeland since 1951 has been criticised widely around the world, thanks largely to the Buddhist leader's extensive travelling and campaigning.