China floats inviting Dalai Lama to Olympics

[ckramer]

Source: Reuters

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official has asked whether Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama would agree to attend the Beijing Olympics to ease recent tensions, a Tibet government-in-exile legislator said on Monday.

The Dalai Lama would consider going, the law maker said.

Khedroob Thondup, a Taipei-based member of Tibet's parliament-in-exile, said a senior leader in Beijing had called him about two weeks ago to "sound out" the Olympic visit idea. He did not identify the leader.

China has blamed the Dalai Lama for unrest in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China since mid-March.

The gesture suggest that Beijing seeks to show the world that it can get along with Tibetan leaders following a world opinion backlash over China's handling of the Tibet violence.

"If they want to invite His Holiness to the Olympics, that would be a big change," Thondup told Reuters, referring to the Dalai Lama. "I'm sure he would consider this."

Read more: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2008-05-12T102932Z_01_TP204698_RTRUKOC_0_US-TAIWAN-TIBET.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-5

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Wow what came over the chinese?