Beijing: China today (Mar 4, 2004) said talks with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, were possible once he renounced his demand for "Tibetan independence" and fulfilled other pre-conditions of Beijing.

"Our position is very clear-cut. The door for negotiations and talks with the Dalai Lama is always open," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing.

"We hope the Dalai Lama can abandon his position of separating Tibet from China and he will acknowledge officially that Tibet is a part of China. Then the door of negotiations will always be open," Liu said, restating Beijing's pre-conditions for the resumption of talks with the Dalai Lama.

However, Liu did not comment on the upcoming 45th anniversary of the Dalai's exile in India, which will be marked on March 17.

The formal contact between the Dalai Lama and Beijing, via the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, was suspended in 1993, although informal contact has been maintained.

In the last two years, envoys of the Dalai Lama have visited China as well as Tibet and held secret talks with Chinese officials. However, no breakthrough has been reported on the Tibet issue.