Chinese officials and representatives of the Dalai Lama ended day-long talks without a breakthrough but agreed to more talks, Chinese state media say. The two sides would to hold further dialogue at "an appropriate time", Xinhua news agency reported. The meeting - in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen - was the first since violent protests by Tibetans in March. Beijing says the Dalai Lama incited the violence. He denies this and accuses the government of human rights abuses.
The two Chinese delegates "answered patiently" questions raised by the two representatives of the Dalai Lama, Xinhua said. But they told the representatives that recent unrest had created "new obstacles" to dialogue, it added.
The U.S. welcomed the meeting. "We have long encouraged the resumption of a dialogue between Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "We hope discussions can lead to better understanding."
Anti-China protests led by Buddhist monks began in Lhasa on March 10th and gradually escalated into rioting. China says at least 19 people were killed by the rioters - but Tibetan exiles say that nearly 100 were killed by the Chinese security forces as they moved to restore calm. The unrest was the worst in the region in 20 years.
Lhasa Mar 14
The Chinese government has been blaming the Dalai Lama and his followers for inciting the trouble, with the goal of undermining the Beijing Olympics and promoting Tibetan independence. After the riots, pro-Tibetan protesters threw China's global Olympic torch relay into disarray as it passed through several cities, including London, Paris and San Francisco. The Dalai Lama has denied Beijing's charges and repeated his position that he wants increased autonomy for Tibet within China, not independence.
In April police in southern China discovered a factory manufacturing Tibetan flags. The factory in Guangdong had been completing overseas orders for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Workers said they thought they were just making colorful flags and didn't realize their meaning. Read more
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, though Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the twentieth century, and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India.
History of Tibet
During Tibet's early history it was an independent and often powerful state, but from the 13th century, when it submitted to Mongol rule, until modern times, it has endured long periods of either Chinese control, Chinese influence, or effective autonomy.
Col. Younghusband
In 1904 British Colonel Francis Younghusband led a mission to seize Lhasa and attempt to exclude other foreign powers' influence over Tibet. But in 1907 Britain and Russia agreed that both parties would deal with Tibet only through China, and China enforced what it saw as its claim on Tibet through a military invasion in 1910.
It withdrew in the midst of a Chinese revolution in 1911, and to all practical purposes Tibet operated as an independent nation from then until the early 1940s.
This was to change dramatically in 1949, when communist Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China and threatened Tibet with 'liberation'.
Chinese military
China led a military assault on Tibet in October 1950, and in April 1951 Tibet's leaders said they were strong-armed into signing a treaty, known as the 'Seventeen Point Agreement', which gave China control over Tibet's external affairs and allowed Chinese military occupation, in return for pledging to safeguard Tibet's political system.
There was widespread open rebellion against Chinese rule within Tibet by 1956, which tipped over into a full uprising in March 1959. Tibetans say that thousands died during the occupation and uprising, but China disputes this.
On the night of March 17 the Dalai Lama fled to northern India. Some 80,000 Tibetans followed over the next few months. The Chinese government went on to establish the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) in 1965, and in 1966 Tibet was subjected to China's Cultural Revolution, which destroyed a large number of its monasteries and important elements of its cultural heritage.
Since the 1980s, Tibet has enjoyed mixed fortunes. People's freedom to practise their religion has been largely restored, though monks and nuns still often face persecution. But large-scale Han Chinese immigration, Tibetans say, threatens their unique culture.
The role of Buddhism
Buddhism, which arrived in Tibet from India, became the region's state religion in the 7th century, and has since played a paramount role. Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, who lived in Tibet in the 1940s, said: 'In all my years in Tibet, I never met anyone who expressed the slightest doubt about Lord Buddha's teaching.'
But religion has become, by necessity, politicized in modern Tibet, as communist China does not tolerate fervent worship. The People's Republic of China also sees the Dalai Lama - the leading spiritual figure of the Tibetan people - as a separatist threat.
The Dalai Lama, or 'Ocean of Wisdom', is seen as the embodiment of compassion. When a Dalai Lama dies, the search for his next incarnation begins. He is identified by his ability to pick out articles belonging to the previous one.
The current, 14th Dalai Lama, has lived in exile in northern India since the Chinese invasion in 1959. The Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibet's spiritual hierarchy, is presently controversial because China and Tibet disagree over his current incarnation.
The Dalai Lama identified him to be a boy called Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, but the Chinese detained him in 1995 and he has not been seen since. The Chinese then installed their own choice, Gyaincain Norbu, who has been rejected by the Tibetans.
The Chinese government has been encouraging mass Han Chinese migration to Tibet, which, it says, is helping the region to improve economically. According to Chinese government statistics, Tibet's GDP in 2003 was about 28 times what it was in 1978. But Tibetans complain that those who predominantly benefit from the growth are the Chinese migrants who then send the money back home.
The proportion of Han Chinese in the TAR has risen sharply, although Tibetans still make up about 93% of the population. However, the Han influence is disproportionate, Tibetans say, with Chinese dominating its economy and other spheres of influence, and threatening the area's cultural identity.
The first train arrived in July 2006
This change will still intensify after the opening of the Golmud-Lhasa railroad in 2006, which is expected to increase Han Chinese traffic to Tibet significantly. China says the 710-mile line will bring major opportunities to a poor region but critics fear it will be used by China to assert its control over a contested border region. They also say the railroad threatens not only the delicate Himalayan environment, but also the ancient Tibetan culture.
The Tibetan government in exile has pointed to comments by former President Jiang Zemin to the New York Times in August 2001, which make clear that the railroad is intended to be a predominantly political, rather than economic, investment.
"Some people advised me not to go ahead with this project because it is not commercially viable. I said this is a political decision, we will make this project succeed at all costs, even if there is a commercial loss," Jiang told the Times.
People fleeing war, political persecution and poverty are transforming the face of America, and remaking the globe. This collection of stories examines the impact of populations on the move. read more
Tibet dilemma for Taiwan (Mar 24)
What do you think of the Olympic torch protests over Tibet?
