US would welcome Tibet dialogue: State Department
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States Wednesday called any potential dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama on Tibet "very positive."
State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said the United States would "certainly encourage and call on the Chinese to engage directly in discussions with the Dalai Lama or his representatives."
Asked about suggestions from Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown that Bejing would meet the Dalai Lama if certain conditions are met, Casey said, "it would be a very positive thing if they chose to do so."
Brown -- who visited China in January and is keen to bolster London's strategic ties with the emerging giant -- said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had assured him he was willing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama under two conditions.
"I made it absolutely clear that there had to be an end to violence in Tibet... I called for an end to the violence by dialogue between the different parties," Brown told parliament in a weekly question period.
"The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said -- that he does not support the total independence of Tibet, and that he renounces violence -- that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama."
