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China ready for talks: Brown

LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told MPs on Wednesday that he spoke to Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and was informed that the Chinese government was “prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama” in the light of the spiritual leader’s statement that he did not support total independence for Tibet and that he renounced violence.

“The Premier told me that subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said — that he does not support the total independence of Tibet, and that he renounces violence — he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama,” Mr. Brown said.

Speaking in the Commons, the British Prime Minister said he, in his conversation with Mr. Wen earlier in the morning, called for “reconciliation.”

“I made it absolutely clear that there had to be an end to violence in Tibet. I also called for dialogue between the different parties,” Mr. Brown said, adding: “The most important thing at the moment is to bring an end to the violence, reconciliation, and to see legitimate talks taking place between those people and China.”

AP reports from Beijing:

The Chinese state media reported on Wednesday that more than 100 people had surrendered to police in and around Tibet’s regional capital of Lhasa, where protests against the Chinese rule turned violent last Friday.

Police barred foreigners from travelling to areas with large Tibetan populations and were seen removing Tibetans from vehicles travelling into areas populated by the Chinese.

Protests have spilled over into traditionally Tibetan areas of surrounding provinces, where more than half of China’s 5.4 million Tibetans live. A hotel receptionist at Aba in the northern Sichuan province said she heard gunshots on Tuesday, the same place where overseas pro-Tibetan groups said a dozen or more people were killed by troops.

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