BEIJING: Facing mounting international flak for the crackdown on Lhasa, China has given first signs of softening its stand by asking the Dalai Lama to use his "influence" to stop violence in Tibet and said the "channels" for dialogue with him are "always open."

"The channels for dialogue between the Chinese government and Dalai Lama are always open," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said during a visit to Laos, as the Olympic flame arrived here under tight security arrangements to thwart Tibetan protests.

"As long as Dalai Lama abandons the claim for 'Tibet independence,' especially uses his influence to stop the violence in Tibet, and recognizes both Tibet and Taiwan as inseparable parts of China, the Chinese government is to continue resuming dialogues with him," Wen was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Wen's comments are seen as an apparent softening of China's stand on the 72-year-old exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Chinese premier's statement also comes after the US and other western powers intensified pressure on Beijing to talk to the Dalai Lama on the vexed Tibet issue. US President George W Bush last week, during a telephonic talk with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, pushed very hard on the need for restraint and the need for consultation with representatives of the Dalai Lama. China has accused the Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the violent protests ahead of the Olympics, slated to begin on August 8, to focus world's attention on Tibet.

Meanwhile, Chinese police rounded up new suspects in connection with the most vicious pro-independence protests in two decades in Tibet, taking the number of those arrested to 414, media reports said. The Tibet Daily said that another 289 people had turned themselves in following the riots, which broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 14 and spread to nearby Tibetan-inhabited provinces leaving at least 20 dead and over 700 injured. Also, China heaved a sigh of relief following a protest-free Olympic torch welcome here at the tightly-guarded Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 bloody crackdown on pro-independence protests.

The Tibetans have threatened to disrupt the 130-day relay, the longest ever in games' history. The state media continued with its anti-Dalai rants saying "the self-proclaimed spiritual leader has obviously forgotten his identity, abused his religion and played too much politics." Xinhua accused the monk of building a "pro-independence infrastructure".

If the Dalai Lama "really wishes to be a simple Buddhist monk it's high time for him to stop playing politics and cheating people, Westerners in particular, with his hypocritical 'autonomy' claims", it said. China also accused the EU of adopting "double standards" and asserted that no foreign country or agency should interfere in Tibet as it was an "internal" matter.

China hoped the EU and its member states would make a clear distinction between the right and the wrong and "explicitly condemn the violent crimes" and avoid adopting double standards, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said. The EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Slovenia had urged Beijing to hold a dialogue with the Dalai Lama and expressed concern over the violence in Tibet but had rejected calls for the Olympics boycott.