Resolution of Sino-Tibet conflict to be mutually beneficial: Tibetan leadership

Penpa Tsering said last week his interlocutor was dealing with “people in Beijing”, and “other elements” on the Chinese side have also reached out

NEW DELHI: The Tibetan government-in-exile has reiterated that resolving the “Sino-Tibet conflict” through a process that leads to genuine autonomy for Tibet will be mutually beneficial, days after Beijing ruled out talks with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

(Penpa Tsering, a sikyong or leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said last week that the Tibetan government-in-exile has opened back channel communications with China to explore ways to find a resolution to the issue of Tibet (AFP FILE)

Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or political leader of the CTA, told a small group of reporters in Dharamshala last week that the Tibetan government-in-exile has opened back channel communications with China to explore ways to find a resolution to the issue of Tibet though there is no expectation of an immediate breakthrough.

Responding to Tsering’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday that Beijing will only have talks with the personal representative of the Dalai Lama and not the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“The Middle Way Policy (MWP) of [the] Central Tibetan Administration is to seek genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people within the framework of Chinese constitution & Regional National Autonomy Law of China,” CTA spokesperson Tenzin Lekshay said in a post on X in response to the Chinese foreign ministry’s stance.

“Resolving Sino-Tibet conflict through MWP is mutually beneficial,” Lekshay said, referring to the Tibetan government-in-exile’s official poisition of seeking autonomy, and not independence, for Tibet.

The Indian side has not made any official comments on this issue so far. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in Dharamshala town in Himachal Pradesh and Tsering said the CTA works closely with the external affairs ministry and Indian security agencies on the issue of Tibet.

Tsering also said his interlocutor has been dealing with “people in Beijing”, and “other elements” on the Chinese side have sought to reach out to the Tibetan leadership.

“We keep the communications going, it has been almost more than a year since we started the back channels,” Tsering said. “They [the Chinese] are reaching out to us, it’s not us reaching out to them. But to hope for something at this juncture? It is not realistic.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang, however, described the Tibetan government-in-exile as an “organised separatist political group” with an agenda for “Tibetan independence”. The Chinese government will only have contacts and talks with the personal representative of the Dalai Lama, and such talks will “only be about the personal future” of the Dalai Lama and “not the so-called ‘high degree of autonomy for Tibet’”, he said.

Wang added that “future contact and talks” can be considered when the Dalai Lama gives up “any activity aimed at disrupting the social order” in Tibet.