China Stamps on Dalai Lama's Call for Tibetan Autonomy

The Chinese government will never accept the Dalai Lama's calls for "high-level autonomy", an official leading talks between the two parties said at a briefing yesterday. Tibetan support groups expressed alarm at the harshness of the remarks, which also included an accusation that the exiled spiritual leader was seeking "ethnic cleansing" across the region.

A leading expert on Tibet warned that it was "almost a point of no return" in the dialog, and blamed the British government's recent decision to explicitly recognize Tibet as a part of China for emboldening Beijing.

The press conference followed discussions in Beijing last week and precedes an agenda-setting meeting in Dharamsala, India, next week between Tibetan exiles about the future of their cause.

Zhu Weiqun, a vice-minister of the Chinese Communist party's United Front Work Department, added: "If one day, [the Dalai Lama] really seizes power, he will without any compunction or sympathy carry out ethnic discrimination, apartheid and ethnic cleansing."

Zhu said there had been no progress in last week's talks, blaming the Tibetan side. He described the current system as "perfect" and in need of no revision, adding: "There is no other way."

The government-in-exile is not commenting on its discussions with Beijing before the Dharamsala meeting. The Dalai Lama has sounded increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of a deal, and younger Tibetans have grown impatient with his "middle path" of peacefully pursuing autonomy for Tibet within China.

Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University, New York, described yesterday's meeting as "almost a point of no return", which "closes off all possible routes" to the exiles. He added: "This is a detailed statement by the actual dialogue team, broadcast live on state television ... [with] among the most aggressive depictions of the Tibetan position."

He added: "I think this is deeply embarrassing for the British government ... One has to ask how they ever thought withdrawing the historical basis for talks would make it more likely China would continue them. It places a major question mark over Britain's ability to read these kinds of situations."

In a parliamentary statement last week, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, recognised China's sovereignty over Tibet.

The government-in-exile argues that the region enjoyed a high degree of autonomy for many years, deriving its claim in part on treaties signed by Britain, which set the boundaries between Tibet and British-ruled India. Those recognised China's effective rule, or "suzerainty", but only on the basis of the region's political autonomy. But Miliband argued that the position was "anachronistic". Most countries recognise China's direct rule.

The Foreign Office pointed out that Tibetan support groups had welcomed the statement's stronger focus on human rights.

A spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet suggested that matters had reached a turning point, given the security crackdown in Tibetan areas and hostility towards the Dalai Lama. She described Zhu's language as "owing much more to the paranoia and political extremism of the Mao era than ... someone representing a would-be superpower".

Last week's meeting was the first round of talks since the Olympics and the third since the violence and unrest in Tibetan areas in March, which ratcheted up tensions over Tibet's status.