Sino-Tibetan Dialogue
The Dalai Lama has always believed that Sino-Tibetan issues can be addressed through dialogue. In the early 1970s, he had discussed the seed ideas of what is now called MWA with his cabinet and concerned officials of Tibetan administration.
In 1979, PRC leader Deng Xiaoping invited Mr. Gyalo Dhondup, elder brother of the Dalai Lama, to visit him and told him that except for Tibetan Independence all Sino-Tibetan issues could be discussed and resolved through dialogue. Importantly, this message became the instrumental basis for Sino-Tibetan talks.While there were some off and on Sino- Tibetan meetings in the 1980s (Smith, 2008), direct contact was renewed with the Central Government of the PRC in 2002. Since then, nine rounds of talks have been held between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and their counterparts from the Central United Front Work Department (CUFWD) of the PRC.
Importantly, on July 1 and 2, 2008, during the seventh round of talks in Beijing, Mr. Du Qinglin, the Vice Chairman of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference and the Minister of the CUFWD, and Mr. Zhu Weiqun, the Executive Vice Minister of the CUFWD, invited the Dalai Lama’s suggestions for the stability and development of Tibet and also his and Tibetan peoples’ aspirations. Guided by the MWA, Tibetan envoys presented to their counterparts a memorandum that spelled out Tibetan aspirations within the constitutional framework of the PRC and Law on Regional National Autonomy.