EU urges China to talk with Dalai Lama

China should engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama to bring about "concrete improvement" in Tibet, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Thursday ahead of talks in Beijing.

China should engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama to bring about "concrete improvement" in Tibet, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Thursday ahead of talks in Beijing.

HT Image

An EU delegation including European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso is due in China on Thursday and Friday amid high tension over Beijing's handling of unrest in the predominantly Buddhist region of Tibet.

"Our message to the Chinese government will certainly be, 'engage in a constructive and in a substantial dialogue which addresses the core issues'" with the Dalai Lama, Ferrero-Waldner told reporters in Tokyo before leaving.

"What is the core issue for us? It is how to achieve concrete improvement of the situation of the Tibetans," she said.