China, Dalai Lama's envoy to hold dialogue-source

BEIJING, May 16 (Reuters) An envoy of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will hold a fence-mending dialogue in Beijing soon, a Tibetan source said today, even as China put the squeeze on his overseas trips.

China and the Dalai Lama's envoys have been engaged in a painfully slow conciliatory dialogue since 2002, which analysts say is partly driven by the fear that if the winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize dies in exile, it could lead to trouble in the Himalayan region.

Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's top envoy to Washington, is expected to hold closed-door talks in Beijing with top officials of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, the source said, requesting anonymity. The department is responsible for dealing with religious leaders and winning over non-Communists.

''We're going to send a delegation to Beijing soon,'' the source with close ties to the leadership of the Tibetan government-in-exile told Reuters.

The Dalai Lama was forced to cancel a trip to Brussels this month after the Belgian government informed him of Chinese displeasure with the planned visit.

Australia's government and pro-China opposition leader were on Wednesday accused by rights groups and political rivals of caving to pressure from Beijing by refusing to meet the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is to tour Australia for 10 days next month, speaking to the national press club and addressing stadium rallies.

But after China's Canberra embassy warned it would be inappropriate for political leaders to meet the exiled leader, the Upper House Senate refused an Australian Greens party request for an official reception at Parliament House.

Resurgent opposition leader Kevin Rudd, a fluent Mandarin speaker who served as a diplomat in Beijing, drew particular criticism for reversing earlier support for the Dalai Lama.

Rudd five years ago met the exiled spiritual leader in Australia and criticised Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as ''weak'' for refusing to do likewise.

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