The Chinese Foreign Ministry has once again told the United States to stop ‘interfering in China’s internal affairs’ following the release of the third annual report to Congress on Tibet negotiations.

A report on the official website the China Tibet Information Service quotes China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang as saying that the report made irresponsible remarks on the Tibet affairs based on the US legislature and ‘ignored the facts.’ He said the report violated the basic principles of international relations and the three Sino-US joint communiques and ‘constituted interference in China’s internal affairs.’

He said the Chinese government’s policy towards the Dalai Lama was clear – as long as the Dalai Lama really gives up his advocacy of ‘Tibet independence,’ stops separatist activities, declares in public that he recognizes Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China, ‘we shall contact him for negotiations.’ Qin said China demands the US side honor its repeated commitment that the United States recognizes Tibet is a part of China and does not support ‘Tibet independence’ and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs by using the ‘Tibet issue.’ The US government submitted to Congress the first presidential report on the status of the Tibet negotiations in May 2003.

In the latest report, the Bush administration reaffirmed that encouraging substantive dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership is a key objective of his administration’s policy and that lack of resolution of the Tibetan problem will be a stumbling block to fuller political and economic engagement between the United States and China.