AFP
November 11, 2008

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) -- The Dalai Lama believes dialogue with
Beijing is the only way to resolve the deadlock over Tibet, despite
the failure of the latest talks with Chinese officials, aides said Tuesday.

His spokesman Tenzin Taklha told AFP that the exiled spiritual leader
"believes the solution to any type of conflict is through dialogue.

"There can be no progress if there are no talks. The only solution is
dialogue. This has been the consistent stand of the Dalai Lama," he said.

The comments came after China blamed the Dalai Lama's representatives
for an impasse seen at the end of two days of talks last week.

Thubten Samphel, spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile based
in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala, noted that the Dalai
Lama had said last month that his "trust in the Chinese government
was diminishing."

"But he never said he had given up on talks," Samphel said.

The comments also come ahead of a meeting of Tibetan representatives
in Dharamshala to discuss the future of the region and "how best we
can move forward," Samphel said.

The Dalai Lama has been seeking "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet since
he fled his homeland following a failed uprising in 1959 against
Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

China says he is seeking full independence -- a "separatist" action
that it opposes.

The Tibetan Youth Congress, representing young exiles across the
world, favours a more radical approach than the Dalai Lama, demanding
full independence.