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China to Meet With Dalai Lama's Emissary
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But there are other Tibetan groups that are pushing for a fully free and separate Tibet, potentially complicating any efforts made by the Dalai Lama's government to negotiate with the Chinese. Some experts say the independence groups represent a minority and are generally made up of younger ethnic Tibetans. "The majority of Tibetans follow what the Dalai Lama says," said Urgen Tenzin, executive director of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
The United States and other countries welcomed the prospect of new talks. "We are hopeful that this will be a new direction in their relationship," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
"The Chinese say they are ready to discuss everything except sovereignty," said José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, who is in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. "If the concern of the Dalai Lama is, as he has always stated, the respect for cultural identity, religious identity and autonomy inside China, I believe there is real room for dialogue."
Opening dialogue with someone who has been portrayed as "an evil spirit with a human face," as the Communist Party chief in Tibet recently called the Dalai Lama, may be difficult to explain to the Chinese public.
"The real challenge to this government is to convey to the domestic audience that the Dalai Lama is a responsible partner in trying to find a way forward without undercutting the extraordinarily negative and evil image that he has been portrayed as recently," Moses said. "This is a real fine line politically and a real tightrope act domestically. The hard-liners who didn't want contact might have lost this round."
Tsering Woeser, a dissident Tibetan writer living under house arrest in Beijing, said she was surprised by how quickly the Chinese have shifted their stance, referring to the Tibetan leader's followers as a "Dalai clique" one day and agreeing to meet with them the next.
"Everything is not clear yet," she said. "I don't know what they are going to talk about."
