The reply from The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office

For those of us who participated in either signing the UK e-petitions or contacting the UK G8 Sherpa Jonathan Cunliffe (The Prime Minister’s Adviser on International and European Policy, Cabinet Office) have received the following reply from the British Foreign ＆ Commonwealth Office. We welcome such a response from the UK government and are hoping that many other governments will follow.

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G8Correspondence@fco.gov.uk

Thank you for your message requesting the Dalai Lama be invited to the Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit. As Chair of the G8 Summit, it was for the Japanese Prime Minister to decide on invitations to Toyako.

The Prime Minister is determined to work with all parties to encourage reconciliation in Tibet and has expressed his strong commitment to the human rights of the Tibetan people. That is why he met the Dalai Lama in London in May, and why he has regularly raised the issue of Tibet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

We believe that the current political difficulties in Tibet can best be resolved through dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama. The Prime Minister has passed this message to Premier Wen and the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama has publicly stated that he opposes violence, does not seek independence for Tibet or a boycott of the Olympic Games. We believe that this commitment meets the pre-conditions which the Chinese government has set for dialogue to take place with the Dalai Lama and his representatives. We welcome the meeting that took place in Shenzen, China between Chinese officials and representatives of the Dalai Lama on the 4th May as the first step in this process. We hope a further round of talks will be convened as soon as possible and that it will allow genuine progress to be made on the substantive issues involved.

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