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ANN ARBOR, Michigan - The Dalai Lama asked Washington for help Monday in improving the situation in Tibet, in the highest level meeting with the US administration since Beijing's crackdown in his homeland.
"At this moment we need your help," the saffron-robed spiritual leader told US special envoy on Tibet Paula Dobriansky as they met in Michigan, adding that the issue of Tibet was "very significant."
Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs, reiterated a US appeal for dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, saying the Bush administration "has expressed concern and has urged restraint" in the Himalayan region.
"President (George W.) Bush steadfastly supports the need for dialogue and today's meeting offers an opportunity to discuss Tibet with His Holiness," she told reporters.
The meeting was criticized by China, which suggested that Washington was meddling in its internal affairs.
It was Dobriansky's 12th meeting with the Dalai Lama aimed at finding a way to resolve the Tibet issue amicably, the State Department said.
"We want to hear from him about his ideas and what he believes might be the next appropriate steps in this," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
"We are certainly going to, of course, also continue to have discussions with the government of China about this."
Beijing has for years held low profile talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama on questions related to Tibet but the dialogue was suspended last summer.
Protests directed against Chinese rule rocked the Himalayan region last month, with exiled Tibetan leaders saying more than 150 people had died in a subsequent government crackdown. Beijing says Tibetan "rioters" killed 18 civilians and two policemen.
China's clampdown has triggered international outrage, with major protests during the Beijing Olympic torch relay in London, Paris and San Francisco.
The Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959, arrived in Seattle on April 10 on his first foreign trip since Beijing's crackdown.
In an editorial in the Washington Post Monday, Dobriansky said the best way for China's leaders to address Tibetan concerns was to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who embraces autonomy for Tibet within China and rejects independence.
"The Dalai Lama is the only person with the influence and credibility to persuade Tibetans to eschew violence and accept a genuine autonomy within China that would also preserve Tibetan culture and identity," she wrote.
"Although the Chinese government recently arranged official trips to (the
Tibetan capital) Lhasa for journalists and diplomats, we continue to call for
unfettered access for all media and foreign diplomats into Tibetan areas," she also wrote. - AFP/ir
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