On 16 April 2004, Voice of Tibet Radio service reported that Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in exile, was expecting a response from China within the next two weeks to his administration's request to 'discuss the matter of beginning the actual process of negotiations'.

Free Tibet Campaign is hopeful that a third visit by the envoys will take place in the near future, however China has yet to demonstrate a full commitment towards substantive dialogue on the future of Tibet, and international pressure remains essential to push this process forward. An earlier personal request by Tony Blair to then Chinese President Jiang Zemin to start talks with the Dalai Lama, as well as that made by the US President, was raised by Jiang Zemin with Politburo colleagues, indicating that Tony Blair's request was regarded as significant. Tony Blair discussed Tibet with current Chinese President Hu Jintao when the two leaders met in Beijing in July 2003, but Downing Street was reluctant to acknowledged the fact.

Free Tibet Campaign is calling for China to drop pre-conditions to negotiations, which are:

Tony Blair should also honour Britain and Tibet's special relationship in the past, support the efforts of the Tibetan Government in exile, and promote the inclusion of all areas with Tibetan autonomous status as designated by China in any negotiations.

ii. Recent news from Tibet:

Since 2002 China has become more adept at off-setting international criticism of its continued occupation of Tibet by making concessions timed to coincide with important political meetings, despite continuing to bolster a system which denies fundamental human rights. More than a dozen Tibetan political prisoners have benefited from this policy with their early release from prison, most recently the nun Phuntsog Nyidrol, released in February 2004 (just prior to the UN Commission for Human Rights). Free Tibet Campaign welcomes these releases and the commencement of 'formal contact' with the exiled Tibetans, but it is essential to look for a sustained and qualitative improvement in both the laws that govern Tibet and how the people are treated in Tibet in order to evaluate China's commitment to change.

February/March 2004 - Arrests reported (Source: Radio Free Asia):

January 2004 - Death following Lhasa arrests:

Three Tibetans were arrested in Lhasa on 16 June 2003 in connection with "splittist activities": Yeshe Gyatso, aged 70, a member of Lhasa City People's Political Consultative Conference; Dawa Tashi and Buchung, both third year students of Tibet University, were detained amid tightening of control in advance of the commemoration of the Dalai Lama's birthday (6 July). Yeshe Gyatso was given a six year sentence, but his medical condition quickly deteriorated and he was released from prison in November. He died in January 2004. (Source: Gu Chu Sum)

August 2003 - Long sentences for monks of Khangmar Monastery,
Six monks from Khangmar monastery in Amdo were arrested in the summer of 2003 for political offences, including painting a Tibetan flag and having photographs of the Dalai Lama. Three of the monks Choedar Dargye, Gedun Thogphel and Jampa Choephel have been given 12 year prison sentences. Two other Khangmar monks, Migyur Gyatso and Jamyang Oezer, are awaiting sentencing; Jamyang Oezer is reportedly ill and in hospital. (Source: Kate Saunders)

2003 - Execution and continued crackdown in Kardze, Kham (Sichuan):
In April 2002, following a series of explosions in Sichuan Province, prominent Buddhist leader Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and others from his monastery were arrested. In December 2002, Tenzin Deleg and a co-accused, Lobsang Dhondup, were sentenced to death in connection with the bombings; Tenzin Deleg's sentence was suspended for two years. In January, following a failed appeal, Lobsang Dhondup was executed. As part of a widespread crackdown in the region since 2002, there have been 59 additional arrests, more than 60 people have been interrogated repeatedly and over 100 have fled the region entirely. Two men connected to Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche remain imprisoned: Tashi Phuntsok, who has been sentenced to seven years; Lobsang Tenphen, who arrested in February 2003 for talking about the trial of Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche to foreign media (sentence unknown); a further four monks are missing. In February, Chinese officials responded to an EU demarche by revealing that Tenzin Deleg in being held in Chuandong Prison in Chengdu. Officials indicated that the period of his suspended death sentence would be completed in December 2004. Chuandong prison authorities will apparently then make a report on Tenzin Deleg's behaviour to the Sichuan Higher Court, which will decide whether his sentence would be commuted.

Tibet supporters have campaigned successfully for the release of a number of others detained in connection with Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche's case. These include the release in July 2003 of a 70 year man named Tserang Dhondrup, who had served a year of a five year sentence, apparently for being a supporter of Tenzin Deleg's. Free Tibet Campaign will be promoting Tenzin Deleg's case at its stand during the Dalai Lama's teachings in Glasgow. For more information click here.

iii. Centenary of British Invasion of 1904, chronology and historic relationship

In 1904, seeking to counteract Russian influence and locate stockpiles of weapons in Tibet, British forces under the leadership of Francis Younghusband advanced on Lhasa, embarking on a series of battles with the Tibetan army that left more than 3,000 dead. However with little support from London, a speedy agreement was reached between the British and the Tibetan governments, and the armed forces quit Lhasa in September of the same year ­ although they maintained a presence in Tibet until 1908. Since this episode, a strong relationship developed between London and Lhasa, reflected in the UK Government's position on Tibet today (see below). The UK is one of the only countries to recognise Tibet as 'autonomous' rather than as a part of China. However, the adventure also demonstrated Tibet's vulnerability to outside influence, and paved the way for China to assert control after the death of the 13th Dalai Lama, culminating in the 'liberation' of Tibet by the People's Army in 1950. Despite the friendship between the two nations, Britain failed to come to Tibet's aid.

As a former colonialist power in India, Britain had the closest relationship with Tibet of any western country and recognised the country's de facto independence in the period before the Chinese invasion of 1950, as demonstrated by the following communication between the Foreign Office and Chongqing: "The Tibetans have every moral right to their independence for which they have fought successfully in the past, and we are committed to support them in maintaining it."

The UK's current policy on Tibet has remained unaltered, despite changes in government, for many years: "Successive British Governments have consistently regarded Tibet as autonomous, whilst recognising the special position of the Chinese there. This remains the Government's view. We have stressed to the Chinese authorities the need for fuller autonomy in Tibet. However, we do not regard independence for Tibet as a realistic option as it has never been internationally recognised as an independent State, and no member of the UN regards Tibet as independent. We believe that a lasting solution to the situation in Tibet can best be achieved through dialogue between the Chinese and Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama. We take every opportunity to encourage both sides to enter into such a dialogue."

The UK Government does not recognise the Tibetan Government in exile and there is no formal contact between official representatives of the Government in exile and British Ministers. For a full chronology of a century of Tibetan/British relation click here.

iv. Biography of Wen Jiabao:

Wen Jiabao became Premier of China in March 2003, forming a close partnership with the new President Hu Jintao. He has, according to a BBC profile, a reputation as "a strong administrator and technocrat, once seen as self-effacing and even uncharismatic". A former geologist whose career began in Gansu Province on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, he is one of the few members of the new leadership with experience of working far from the Han hinterland.

Wen's career has progressed steadily, surviving the purges of two of the three Party Leaders under whom he served: Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang (the third leader was Jiang Zemin).

To human rights campaigners, the most interesting event in Wen's past took place in 1989, when he accompanied then Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang to Tiananmen Square to visit students on hunger strike. Although Zhao was shortly afterwards purged from the Party and has lived under house arrest in Beijing ever since, Wen Jiabao survived and now holds one of China's most senior positions.

Foreign diplomats appear impressed by the partnership of Hu and Wen, especially their handling, albeit belated, of the SARS crisis of 2003. Most recently, Wen unexpectedly suspended plans for a massive dam system on the Nu river in Western China, a proposal that had been opposed by organisations within China and around the world on the grounds of the environmental damage it could cause.

Chinese official News Agency Xinhua's profile of Wen paints the following cosy picture, "People often see him clad in a casual jacket and sneakers, chatting amiably and cordially with local folks and commoners in villages or disaster-afflicted areas."

v. Biography of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and details of his UK visit

The 14th Dalai Lama, 68 year old Tenzin Gyatso, was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935, in Takster, Amdo (now part of Qinghai Province). He took office as Tibet's political and spiritual leader in 1950 at the age of 15 as Chinese troops invaded, but was forced to leave Tibet for exile during the Uprisings of March 1959. He established a Tibetan government in exile in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, Northern India and has worked tirelessly to promote a peaceful resolution to the occupation of Tibet. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Dalai Lama has visited the UK at least nine times since 1973, but has only met two serving British Prime Ministers; John Major in 1991 and Tony Blair in 1999. Despite more than 130 Members of Parliament urging Tony Blair to meet the Dalai Lama in 2004 (through an Early Day motion tabled in the House of Commons) Mr Blair told fellow MPs on 8 March, "I am unfortunately unable to meet the Dalai Lama due to existing diary commitments. However, my Right Honourable friend the Foreign Secretary will be meeting the Dalai Lama during his visit."

The Dalai Lama's London schedule includes meetings with opposition leader Michael Howard, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prince of Wales in addition to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Free Tibet Campaign will hold a stall at the Dalai Lama's teachings in Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre between 29 May and 1 June. Priorities there will be the campaign to release Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and the Campaign to oppose the Chinese People's Liberation Army Band playing at this year's Edinburgh Military Tattoo