China failed to address grievances of Tibetans: US report

The Chinese government has failed to address the grievances of Tibetans and, playing the blame game, has been following a policy of repression that has worsened the situation, a US report has said.

"Instead of addressing the grievances, the Chinese authorities strengthened a security crackdown based on the premise of 'stability maintenance' that infringed on Tibetans' freedoms of expression, association, and movement," said the annual report of the US Congressional Executive Commission on China.

The report on human rights and developments in China, including the situation in Tibet, released Thursday, noted the efforts made by the then US Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues Maria Otero, who urged the Chinese government to "engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions".

Otero, in December 2012, cited severe government controls on Tibetans, undermining of the Tibetan language, intensive surveillance and forced "disappearances" of peaceful Tibetan protesters and intellectuals as some of the reasons for the Tibetans' resentment.

On the Sino-Tibetan negotiations, the Congressional commission noted with optimism the views of a senior official of the Central Party School, Jin Wei, who said the Chinese government should resume talks with the representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

"In June 2013, Professor Jin Wei, with the Central Party School, stated in an interview that, if the Party 'can use creative ideas to break the impasse' in dialogue, it would 'promote social stability and prevent the creation of long-lasting nationality wounds'."

Jin noted that the Party cannot simply treat (the Dalai Lama) as an enemy, and recommended restarting the talks, and suggested discussing that the Dalai Lama visit Hong Kong 'in his capacity as a religious leader', the report said.

Officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile, based here, said the two sides -- the Dalai Lama's envoys and the Chinese -- have held nine rounds of talks since 2002 to resolve the Tibetan issue, but no major breakthrough has been achieved so far.

The last talks were held in Beijing in January 2010. The Tibetan government-in-exile had submitted an "explanatory" note to the Chinese leadership at that time, to clarify its stand on genuine autonomy for Tibetan people.

China, however, said after those talks that the two sides had "sharply divided views, as usual".

The Dalai Lama, 78, has been following a "middle-path" policy that seeks greater autonomy for Tibetans rather than complete independence.

However, the Chinese view him as a hostile person bent on splitting Tibet from China.

The Dalai Lama, along with many of his supporters, fled Tibet and took refuge in India when Chinese troops moved in and took control of Lhasa in 1959.

India is home to around 100,000 Tibetans.