05 June 2008
Dharamsala denies Norwegian secret diplomacy
(AP, TibetInfoNet, CTA) The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala has denied a newspaper report that Norway has been secretly brokering talks between the Dalai Lama and China. The Norwegian Verdens Gang reported that diplomatic efforts have gone on for several years and that Norwegian foreign ministers have kept US officials informed about the meetings. It cited unnamed sources in Washington. It did not say if there had been direct meetings between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials, or when the peace efforts began, but it mentioned that contacts on the Tibetan side were held to "a brother of the Dalai Lama", likely hinting at Gyalo Dhondup, who has been instrumental in Sino-Tibetan talks in the 1980s. "The Norwegian government is helping the Tibetans in many ways for the last many years, including providing development aid in the Tibetan settlements in India, but there is no secret diplomacy or mediating in the dialogue or negotiations between the PRC and the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama", said Thumpten Samphel, a Secretary in CTA Desk for Information and International Relations (DIIR). "This needs to be denied in its totality", Samphel told the Associated Press. Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tor-Henrik Andersen declined to comment on the newspaper report.