§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
On what occasions they have raised with the Chinese Government the case for a dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama; and what response they have had. [HL2723]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean:At the biannual UK/China human rights dialogue we regularly urge the Chinese authorities to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama. We have made clear to the Chinese authorities our view that a long-term, peaceful solution to the Tibet issue can be found only through dialogue. They maintain that they too wish to see progress in the situation. Their position remains unchanged: they are willing to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama but he must first accept that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and give up his support for Tibet's independence.
At the last round of the bilateral dialogue (November 2002) at our request the Chinese provided a read out of the visit to China by senior representatives of the Dalai Lama.