An envoy of the Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that Tibetans would likely end a wave of self-immolation protests if China re-opened dialogue with the exiled spiritual leader to address grievances.
More than 110 Tibetans have set themselves alight, with most of them dying, in demonstrations since 2009 against what they see as China’s oppressive rule. China has since ramped up its security presence in Tibetan areas.
Lobsang Nyandak, the Dalai Lama’s representative to the Americas, said that China should resume dialogue with the spiritual leader’s envoys. China held nine rounds of dialogue between 2002 and 2010 with no tangible results.
“I believe, definitely, if China is to engage His Holiness’s representative envoys and come up with a positive gesture, then it’s almost certain that Tibetan people will - at least for the time being - watch and see what’s really going to happen,” Nyandak said.
“We always say that it’s up to the Chinese leaders whether they want to put an end to the self-immolations in Tibet,” he said.
“But the way that they can put an end is not out of further intensifying repression in Tibet, but through engaging His Holiness’s representatives in a very positive manner,” he said.