British PM pledges support for Tibet-China process

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged Britain's support Friday for rapprochement between Tibet and Beijing, as the Dalai Lama warned violence could resume if talks between the parties failed.

Brown's office said he held "warm and constructive" discussions with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in a 30-minute meeting at Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's official residence in London.

The talks were the most contentious engagement of the Dalai Lama's 11-day visit to Britain.

Brown, who is keen to boost trade and other links with China, has been criticised for "kow-towing" to Beijing by not receiving him in the prime minister's Downing Street office, as his predecessors Tony Blair and John Major did.

China, which accuses the...