China Rejects Dalai Lama’s Tibet Proposal

China on Thursday rejected a proposal made by Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, that would have recognized its control of Tibet’s foreign affairs in exchange for limited independence for the remote region.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Zhaoxing, at a briefing, said it is “irrefutable” that Tibet is an inseparable part of Chinese territory.

“Therefore, to have independence or semi-independence will go nowhere in Tibet. It is not tolerable or acceptable, and even a sort of independence in a disguised form is not acceptable,” he said.

Fled to Exile in 1959

The Dalai Lama, who fled to exile in India after a failed 1959 uprising against China, made the proposal last week in Strasbourg, France.

It was significant in that it acknowledged Chinese interests in Tibet and China’s right to keep troops in Tibet and run the region’s foreign affairs.

The Dalai Lama said he proposed a “middle way” in which Tibet would be a self-governing entity in association with China.

The proposal was seen as a major concession by the Dalai Lama, who in the past has called for the total independence of Tibet. Last fall and again in March, monks loyal to the Dalai Lama led bloody anti-Chinese riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

Sources in an unofficial Tibetan office in New York said many Tibetans were unhappy with the Dalai Lama’s plan and had hoped he would not give in to the Chinese.

The Buddhist spiritual leader made his proposal during a private visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

After the speech, China canceled several visits to China planned by Parliament members.