Dalai Lama signals strategy shift with China

The Dalai Lama has opened the door to a tougher China policy following a complete lack of progress in talks on Tibetan autonomy with Beijing, aides and exiled Tibetan leaders said Monday.
The future course of the Tibetan movement, including the possibility of an historic switch from demanding autonomy to a demand for full independence, will be the focus of a special meeting next month of around 300 delegates representing the worldwide exiled Tibetan community.
"The only non-negotiable aspect is that the movement will still be non-violent. Everyone is agreed on that," the Dalai Lama's spokesman Tenzin Taklha told AFP.
In his first public address since undergoing surgery for gallstones, the Dalai Lama said at the weekend that he had given up on extracting any concessions from Beijing after seven rounds of talks between Tibetan envoys and Chinese officials.
"He's lost hope in trying to reach a solution with the present Chinese leadership which is simply not willing to address the issues," Taklha said.