Above: A security guard stands at the main entrence of Shen Zhen Kylin Villa in the city of Shenzhen May 4, 2008. Envoys of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama were meeting Chinese government officials in Shenzhen on Sunday, the first talks between the two sides since a rash of anti-Beijing unrest rocked Tibet and neighbouring areas. The talks were believed to be held in Kylin Villa, which is a state guest house.
REUTERS/Stringer
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China's president said he was hoping for positive results from talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, which opened on Sunday, but state media kept up a barrage of attacks on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
The fence-mending talks between Chinese officials and the two aides of the Dalai Lama, the first since deadly riots erupted in March, began behind closed doors in the city of Shenzhen.
"(I) hope contacts this time will yield positive results," China's state news agency Xinhua quoted President Hu Jintao as saying.
The March unrest, the most serious challenge to Chinese rule in the mountainous region for nearly two decades, prompted anti-China protests that disrupted the international leg of the Olympic torch relay and led to calls to boycott August's Beijing Games.
"When determining a person's position, we must not only listen to what he says but also watch his deeds," Hu told a group of Japanese reporters in Beijing ahead of a visit to Japan.
"The door for dialogue has always been open. We sincerely hope the Dalai side can show through action that they have genuinely stopped separatist activities, stopped plots to incite violence and stopped to sabotage the Beijing Olympics," Hu said. These would "create conditions for the next round of dialogue".
Security was tight outside the state guest house where the talks were held. Reporters were not allowed into the compound.
"It will continue tomorrow and possibly the day after ... We are expecting them back on the 7th or 8th (of May)," Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama, told Reuters on Sunday.
"We hope the Chinese are serious about the talks ... hopeful that the Chinese are willing to look into the problems in Tibet."
Xinhua said both sides agreed to hold another round of contact and consultation "at an appropriate time" without saying whether there would be a second day of talks on Monday.
NEW DIALOGUE
China proposed the latest talks last month after Western governments urged it to open new dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who says he wants a high level of autonomy, not independence, for the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan homeland he fled in 1959.
But Xinhua quoted unnamed sources as saying Sunday's meeting was arranged at the government-in-exile's repeated request for contacts and consultations with the central government.
Chinese negotiators Zhu Weiquan and Sitar said the rioting in Lhasa on March 14 had given rise to new obstacles for further contacts and consultations, but the central government still arranged this meeting with "great patience and sincerity".
Both Zhu and Sitar are vice-ministers of the Communist Party's United Front Work and responsible for winning over religious leaders and ethnic minorities.
Xinhua quoted them as saying it was completely correct for the local government to take action in accordance with the law to maintain social stability and to safeguard the country's legal system and the people's essential interest.
State television showed footage of the talks with Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, the Dalai Lama's representatives in Washington and Switzerland respectively.
A commentary in the official Tibet Daily accused the Dalai Lama of being a "loyal tool of international anti-Chinese forces" and attempting to split Tibet from China.
Some analysts said the repeated condemnations in the run-up to the talks suggested that China was in no mood to compromise.
The India-based Tibetan government-in-exile has said it "can't have great expectations" from the talks.
There have been six rounds of dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys since 2002, with no breakthrough.
The Dalai Lama also says that he objects to violence and supports the Beijing Olympics. China says he is insincere.
China says the rioting in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, in March killed 18 "innocent civilians" and a police officer. It has not specified how many, if any, protesters have died but says troops used maximum restraint and avoided using lethal weapons.
Exiled groups say many more Tibetans have died in a crackdown on rioters. The government-in-exile estimated last week that 203 Tibetans might have died in the unrest since March 10.
Source: Reuters
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