China moves in Dalai Lama's direction

It certainly looks like Chinese leaders are bowing to international pressure and will meet Tuesday in Beijing with envoys from the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, in a resumption of autonomy negotiations started in March. In what could be a breakthrough in China's relationship with Tibet and with the rest of the world, the Chinese have agreed to two days of talks, the Reuters international news service reported Monday. The meeting will be the second since rioting broke out in Tibet in March and focused international attention on China's record on Tibet, which it took over in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet and went into exile in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. "The Dalai Lama has instructed the envoys to make every effort to bring about tangible progress to alleviate the difficult situation for Tibetans in their homeland," the government-in-exile, based in India, said a statement, Reuters said. The meeting had been planned earlier but was delayed after the earthquake in Sichuan province that killed 70,000 people. The quake resulted in worldwide sympathy for China and enabled the Dalai Lama to make goodwill gestures, including praising Beijing's humanitarian response and offering to attend the Olympic Games in August if negotiations made progress. But China might not have changed its position at all and is merely trying to mollify international concerns over its recent suppression of protests in Tibet prior to the start of the Olympics.