Lodi Gyari's visit to China: a significant development

TIN News Update / 13 September 2002

LA four-person delegation led by the Dalai Lama's Special Envoy, Lodi Gyaltsen
Gyari (Gyari Rinpoche), is due to arrive in Lhasa today as part of a visit to
China and Tibet. The visit could be highly significant, since there has been
no formal contact between the Dalai Lama and Beijing since the summer of 1993
when contact was suspended. The delegation, which also includes the Dalai Lama's
Envoy Kalsang Gyaltsen, arrived in Beijing on 9 September. The Chinese Foreign
Ministry, in confirming the visit, downplayed its significance by referring to
the delegation as expatriate Tibetans visiting Tibet "in a private capacity".
No details have been given of any meetings with Chinese officials, although a
Chinese Foreign Ministry official indicated that they would have opportunities
to meet people "at all levels".

It is not currently possible to speculate about what may happen during or after
Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari's visit. However, there have been recent signs of very subtle
movement on the part of the authorities, including the early releases of six
high-profile Tibetan political prisoners in the early months of this year. These
releases were followed by the visit of Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of the
Dalai Lama, to Beijing and Lhasa in July of this year. While not an official
representative of the Dalai Lama, Gyalo Thondup has visited China several times
during the past decade, acting as unofficial envoy. Returning from a visit in
July of this year, Gyalo Thondup commented that he felt very hopeful about the
possibility of a dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile.