Washington US President Barack Obama has urged his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to have dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, to resolve and address the concerns of the people of Tibet.
"Even as we, the United States, recognise that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States continues to support further dialogue between the government of China and the representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve concerns and differences, including the preservation of the religious and cultural identity of the Tibetan people," Obama said at a joint news conference with Hu at the White House.
The Tibetan issue along with that of the human rights was candidly raised by Obama and his team during talks with the Chinese delegation led by Hu.
However, there was no mention of Tibet in the joint US-China statement issued later in the day.
Ahead of the Obama-Hu talks, as many as 39 Tibetan associations and support groups in the US had urged Obama in a letter to raise the issue of Tibet in particular human rights condition there with Hu.
"President Obama understands the Tibet problem as a trespass against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a challenge to China's peaceful rise," said Mary Beth Markey, President of the International Campaign for Tibet.
Observing that Tibet is an integral part of the US-China relationship for moral, historical and strategic reasons, the letter said the position the US has adopted on Tibet creates an incumbent duty on this Administration to continue to raise the issue with Chinese leaders at the highest levels.
"Tibet must be on the agenda of your summit with President Hu," demanded the US-based Tibetan organisations.
The Tibetan organisations also urged Obama that the Administration should continue to press China's leadership for results-oriented negotiations to achieve a political solution for Tibet and engage China in topical areas, including education policies pertaining to Tibetans and regional discussions on water security.
