According to Chinese president Hu Jintao, “Our policy towards the Dalai Lama is clear and the door of dialogue has remained open” which is the same thing we've heard before, but Hu also made a more controversial remark: “To determine one's position, one must not only watch what he says, but also watch his deeds”.
Implications/Analysis
Tibetan monks running rampant can't be condoned, but China's excessive use of force in cracking down on dissenters has made matters far worse. It's like pouring oil onto hot kerosene.
According to a statement released by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Dalai Lama must stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting & inciting violence and stop disrupting & sabotaging the Beijing Olympics in order to “create conditions for the next round of contact and consultations”.
Implications/Analysis
It seems like China is calling all the shots here.
The Xinhua statement repeatedly blamed the Dalai “side” for causing the Tibetan crisis in March and “causing great public indignation and strong condemnation by people from various walks of life”.
Implications/Analysis
In this statement, Xinhua has obviously ignored (or chosen to ignore) the fact that many people sympathize with Tibet as well, the most notable of whom was Christine Chan, a philosophy student from the University of Hong Kong.
Dalai spokesman Tenzin Takhla would only reveal that talks between Beijing & the Dalai Lama were going on without giving any details.
Implications/Analysis
Whether talks between China & the Dalai Lama's support group do anything to resolve this crisis remains to be seen, but so far, it looks like all talk and no actions from both sides
World
According to Warren Buffet, the world's richest man, the pain on Wall Street appears to be over, but problems will continue for ordinary people: “The crisis on Wall Street is over. In terms of people with individual mortgages, there's a lot of pain left to come”.
Implications/Analysis
The crisis may be coming to an end for rich Wall Street bankers, but the problem is that most people live on main street and for people with adjustable rate mortgages, combined with skyrocketing inflation and high food prices, the situation will get worse before improving.
