BEIJING, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A Chinese official has revealed fresh 
sentences for Tibetans accused of rioting in Lhasa in March, state 
media reported, while talks continue between Beijing and envoys of the 
Dalai Lama. The vice chairman of the Tibet regional government, Baema 
Cewang, said 55 people had so far been sentenced for the deadly 
rioting that shook the regional capital, Lhasa, on March 14, sparking 
riots and protests against Chinese rule across many ethnic Tibetan 
areas, Xinhua news agency reported. "Following the violence, police 
detained 1,317 people, of whom 1,115 were subsequently released. The 
rest stood trial," the report cited Cewang as telling a visiting 
Australian parliamentarian.

The report did not detail the crimes or sentences of those convicted. 
Nor did it say what had happened to the some 147 people apparently 
tried but not sentenced.

In late April, China announced it had jailed 30 people for terms 
ranging from three years to life for their roles in the Lhasa riots 
that left 18 residents and a police officer dead. The unrest triggered 
a crackdown and then worldwide protests against Chinese policy in 
Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Beijing blamed the violence on supporters of the Dalai Lama, a claim 
he has repeatedly rejected.

Since April, groups abroad advocating Tibetan self-determination have 
reported additional sentences, but these have not been confirmed by 
China.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said eight Buddhist monks from 
Gyanbe Township in Tibet were sentenced in September, accused of 
bombing a government building there during the unrest.

Xinhua reported last month that three county courts in Tibet also 
sentenced 14 Tibetans to jail terms on charges of looting, robbery and 
rioting in March.

The official report of fresh convictions in Lhasa comes as Beijing 
holds talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist 
leader.

Beijing calls the Nobel Peace Prize laureate a trouble-making 
separatist. But he says he wants to negotiate true autonomy for the 
mountain region he fled in 1959, not outright independence.

The Dalai's envoys arrived in Beijing on Thursday for secretive talks 
days after he expressed pessimism over prospects for the negotaitions. 
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)