Talks with Chinese Officials in Switzerland Were Concrete and Substantive, Says Tibetan Special Envoy

November 7, 2009

Special Envoy Lodi Gyari described as "concrete and substantive" the fourth round of meetings between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials in Bern, Switzerland, on June 30 and July 1, according to a statement by Gyari released by the Tibetan government-in-exile on July 7.

Special Envoy Lodi Gyari described as "concrete and substantive" the fourth round of meetings between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials in Bern, Switzerland, on June 30 and July 1, according to a statement by Gyari released by the Tibetan government-in-exile on July 7. "We put forward some concrete proposals that will help build trust and confidence and move the ongoing process to a new level of engagement aimed at bringing about substantive negotiations to achieve a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibetan issue," the statement said. "Obviously, major differences on a number of issues, including on some fundamental ones, continue to remain."

Gyari, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen, and three senior assistants met with a six-member Chinese delegation headed by Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Zhu is also a member of the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and a senior official of the State Council Information Office, a cabinet-level part of the Chinese government. Gyari's statement said, "Despite the existing areas of disagreement, Vice Minister Zhu was pleased that our direct contact had now become stable and an 'established practice.'" Pointing to the progress achieved since the dialogue began in 2002, Gyari said, "[Zhu] stated that we need not be pessimistic about the existing differences and that it was possible to narrow down the gaps through more meetings and exchange of views."

Referring to the areas of disagreement between Tibetans and Chinese officials, Tibetan-government-in-exile official Thubten Samphel told reporters in Dharamsala on July 8, "The most fundamental issue that we still have differences on is the definition of Tibet," according to a report by the Associated Press. "While China sees Tibet as the area included under the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Tibetans claim a much larger area where the culture and language are Tibetan," Samphel explained.

China designates 13 areas of Tibetan autonomy. The TAR is ranked as a province, while the remaining areas are Tibetan autonomous prefectures or counties located in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. Their total area is about 865,000 square miles (2.24 million square kilometers). The Tibetan government-in-exile's representation of Tibet (965,000 square miles, or 2.5 million square kilometers) exceeds the total area of Chinese-designated Tibetan autonomy by about 100,000 square miles.

Additional information about the status of dialogue between the Dalai Lama or his representatives and the Chinese government is available in the CECC 2004 Annual Report.