Han and Tibetan Chinese share a saying, coined by a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar, that could apply to talks between the Chinese government and Tibetan exiles led by the Dalai Lama. That saying, 'to hang out a sheep's head to sell dog meat', is the equivalent of the English proverb 'To cry wine and sell vinegar', meaning to claim to do one thing with the intent of doing another. Three decades of 'negotiations about negotiations' between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Beijing have not made progress because, although exile leaders claim they are not separatists, they continue with assertions and actions that belie that claim.
In their talks, the two parties have supposedly clarified their positions, yet no formal negotiations have taken place. Both sides tell the world that's because the other side is insincere, but because 'Chinese propaganda' is a stock notion in much of the world, while 'Tibetan exile propaganda' is not, the exiles' side of the story is often assumed to be true. They say that the Chinese government is not serious about negotiations because it is only willing to talk about the Dalai Lama's future and awaits his death, hoping the Tibet issue will then fade away.
Formal negotiations with the Dalai Lama are not being conducted, so it is not surprising that Beijing won't discuss Tibet with his representatives in any but general terms. The exiles' talk of waiting for the Dalai Lama to die is intended to make the Chinese government appear like a vulture, but the Dalai Lama said in the mid-1990s that the exiles' leverage would increase once Deng Xiaoping died. Those in the exile community who explicitly advocate Tibetan independence have also said that their position will improve once the Dalai Lama dies.
Beijing has repeatedly stated it will negotiate with the Dalai Lama if he meets several preconditions, the main one being that he acknowledges that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile refuse to do that, bizarrely claiming that to do so would be the same as agreeing that Tibet has always been part of China. That is one reason Chinese leaders continue to regard them as separatists.
Recent statements by the Dalai Lama and leaders of the Tibetan government in exile indicate that it is not unreasonable to regard them as separatists. They have said that Tibet has always been independent, that it is an occupied country or colony with a right to independence, that the government in exile is the legitimate government of Tibet, that not a single Tibetan considers himself or herself Chinese, and that the majority of Tibetans want independence. For two decades, exile leaders have given indications that they await the collapse of China so that Tibet can become independent like former parts of the Soviet Union.
Chinese leaders regard claims that Tibet was always independent and has a right to independence as assertions that Tibet should not be part of China. They see the Tibetan exile leaders' friendly gestures to separatists in Taiwan and the Xinjiang Uygur diaspora, and the government in exile's patronage from the United States and India - states that have conflicts with China and political elements that want to 'play the Tibet card'.