Tibetans in India protest Chinese Embassy

Tibetan exiles scuffle with Indian police at a protest outside of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, on the eve of the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising in 1959, in New Delhi, March 9, 2011 (AP/Mustafa Quraishi).

NEW DELHI, India - Police detained around three dozen Tibetan exiles protesting outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi to mark the anniversary of the failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile in India, a police official said Wednesday.

The protesters, wearing yellow T-shirts and waving red and blue Tibetan flags, chanted "Free Tibet" and "We want freedom," as they rushed toward the Chinese embassy. They were blocked by Indian police officers, dragged to a bus and taken to a nearby police station for questioning. A law prohibits more than four people from gathering in the area around the embassy.

"We don't have freedom in Tibet. Our brothers and sisters in Tibet are highly oppressed under the cruel Chinese rule," shouted Tenzin, a Tibetan activist who gave only his first name. The protesters were likely to be released later Wednesday, said Rajender Singh, head constable at the police station where the Tibetans were detained. More>>

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Dalai Lama hopes; China holds high ground

(WFP) You can't fault the Dalai Lama for optimism. I suppose that might come from being [a bodhisattva] born-again, the most recent in a long list of reincarnations that makes him the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, an inspiration of piety and pacifism to people around the world, as well as a huge hit among Hollywood actors. Only Scientology, it seems, appeals to more of these keen intellects than Tibetan Buddhism.

Wherever his hopefulness comes from, it certainly does not come from being the temporal ruler of Tibet... Every time, however, the Dalai Lama raises the issue, and he does it frequently, Beijing hammers it -- kind of like diplomatic whack-a-mole. Nevertheless, this week two Tibetan monks arrived in Beijing, sent by their leader [the Dalai Lama] to see if the Chinese might agree to open talks. China received them, but also set the Dalai Lama up for the inevitable disappointment. More>>

China to hold talks with Dalai Lama envoys

BEIJING – Chinese state media says Beijing is set to hold new talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama "in the near future."

The one-sentence dispatch by the Xinhua News Agency released Wednesday did not give any other details. The Chinese Foreign Ministry says it does not have any comment.

The report comes a day after Tibetan officials in India said the Dalai Lama had called a special meeting of Tibetan exiles next month about the foundering discussions with China.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said over the weekend that he has given up on efforts to persuade Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule. He says he will now ask the Tibetan people to decide how to move forward.

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More on China

• China tells Dalai Lama to "treasure" imminent talks

More on Tibet

• China plans talks with Tibet envoys in "near future" Reuters
• Dalai says will talk to China if Beijing "honestly" wants dialogue AFP