Woo hoo!!!!!

China to meet Dalai Lama envoy

Story Highlights
Xinhua: Meeting comes after "Dalai side" made repeated requests, official says
World leaders have urged China to resume meetings
Anti-Chinese protests have followed many stops along the international torch relay
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Chinese officials will reportedly meet a representative of the Dalai Lama in coming days amid international pressure on Beijing to re-open dialogue with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader after recent violence in the Himalayan region.

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a Chinese official saying that the meeting is hoped to bring an end to pro-Tibetan protests that have disrupted the Olympic torch relay and threaten to spill over into the 2008 Beijing Games.

The Dalai Lama welcomed the development. A statement issued by his secretary, Tenzin Takhla, said: "His Holiness, since March 10th, has made every effort to reach out to the Chinese leadership.

"He has long said: 'The only way we can solve our differences is with face-to-face dialog.'"

China -- which has accused the Dalai Lama of agitating recent violence in Tibet, an autonomous region of China -- has previously held meetings with the spiritual leader's representatives, but none have taken place since July 2007.

"In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," Xinhua quoted a Chinese official as saying.

The official said China hopes the meetings will lead the Dalai Lama to "take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," Xinhua reported.

World leaders have recently urged China to resume discussions.

"If they ever were to reach out to the Dalai Lama, they'd find him to be a really fine man, a peaceful man, a man who is anti-violence, a man who is not for independence but for the cultural identity of the Tibetans being maintained," President George W. Bush told reporters on April 9.

The Olympic torch relay has been shadowed on its journeys by pro-Tibet demonstrators in London, England; Paris, France; and San Francisco, California. Stops in those cities attracted tens of thousands of demonstrators and prompted dozens of arrests.