CHINA AGREES TO SPEAK WITH DALAI LAMA'S DELEGATION

The Telegraph, and other sources as well, are reporting that Beijing today gave in to weeks of international pressure and agreed to negotiate with a representative of the Dalai Lama.  No details were provided of the proposed talks, but a brief dispatch said the meeting with a “private representative” of the Tibetan spiritual leader would take place in the “coming days”.

Let's exercise a little cautious optimism here.  The Chinese have had these talks in the past.  And they are, after all, very adept at time management--they see, in my opinion, one phase of their Tibet program as centered on the life of the Dalai Lama, and another phase beginning with his death--and promising talks, scheduling talks, and holding talks are three very different activities, all of them time-consuming.  And time--as in 104 days until the Olympics begins--is the major concern of the Chinese here.

But let's be clear about something else as well.  The protests, the threat of boycotts, and the international concern that these activities have generated have had an effect on the Chinese.  Had the world been quiet as the Tibetans protested, had no one mentioned the boycott, the Chinese would not now be coming to the table with His Holiness's delegation.