The Dalai Lama has called a meeting of key Tibetan leaders later this year to review the ongoing peace talks with China, aides to the spiritual leader said on Friday.
The Dalai Lama, who returned to his home in northern India on Tuesday after recovering from a brief illness that put him in hospital for four days, will convene the meeting in either November or December, they said.
Spokesman Tenzin Takhla said invitations had been sent to exiled Tibetan leaders involved in the campaign for greater autonomy for their Himalayan homeland, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations.
‘VERY IMPORTANT’
“These meetings are convened every few years to discuss very important matters and now it will be soon,” he said by telephone from Dharamshala.
Another aide to the Dalai Lama, who did not want to be named, said members of Tibetan groups fighting for Tibetan independence had also been invited to the meeting in Dharamshala, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.
“We so far have had seven rounds of talks with China [since 2002] but with little result and this very important meeting will now review the pace of the negotiations,” he said. “The Dalai Lama will now want to chalk out a fresh course” for the talks with the Chinese, the aide said.
‘MIDDLE PATH’
The Dalai Lama champions a “middle path” policy that espouses “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet, rather than full independence as many younger, more radical activists are demanding.
The Buddhist monk -- who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 -- fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule.
Still, China has vilified him as the “mastermind” of what it called a drive to sabotage the Olympics and destabilize the country.
Violent protests against Beijing’s rule broke out across Tibet in March, sparking a heavy Chinese crackdown.
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy
‘VIOLATIONS OF DISCIPLINE’: Miao Hua has come up through the political department in the military and he was already fairly senior before Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 A member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission has been suspended and put under investigation, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday. Miao Hua (苗華) was director of the political work department on the commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. He was one of five members of the commission in addition to its leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said Miao is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline,” which usually alludes to corruption. It is the third recent major shakeup for China’s defense establishment. China in June
RSS