relatively minor non-violent crimes such as embezzlement, as
often reported in Chinese media?
is
More generally, the White Paper does not cover key Western
concerns such as the treatment of religious believers outside
official (state registered) churches and human rights violations in
Tibet. There is still strong concern in UK about these issues.
Defensive
Dalai Lama and Prime Minister
In company with the Archbishop of Canterbury the Prime Minister
has agreed to a private meeting with the Dalai Lama in his religious
capacity. This reflects his concern, expressed to Premier Li Peng,
about the human rights situation in Tibet and indeed throughout
China. It does not affect our understanding of the status of Tibet.
Prime Minister made our views clear on that in Parliament on 21
November.
We regard Tibet as autonomous while recognising the special
position of the Chinese there. We should like to see a greater
degree of autonomy in Tibet and believe dialogue between the Chinese
authorities and the Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, is the best
way of solving this problem.
Not
an adequate response to say that you favour dialogue but
that the Dalai Lama's activities preclude this. He seems a
reasonable interlocutor and it is up to you to solve this problem.
We do not wish it to harm the improving relationship between our
countries but the situation in Tibet continues to cause concern to
many people in the UK.
AEIABI
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