BEIJING: China, under pressure from international community to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama, has said it will soon have a meeting with a "private representative" of Tibetan spiritual leader. "In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai's private representative in the coming days," Xinhua news agency said quoting an unnamed official.

"The policy of the central government towards Dalai has been consistent and the door of dialogue has remained open," the official was quoted as saying. China has been insisting that the doors for the dialogue with the Dalai Lama, living in exile in India, were open but he must give up what it called his "separatist activities", stop attempts to "sabotage" the Beijing Olympics and accept Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of China.

The Dalai Lama, whom China has accused of having orchestrated the recent violence in Tibet and elsewhere during the most vicious anti-government protests in two decades that have left 20 people dead, has insisted that he was not seeking independence of Tibet and was ready for a dialogue with the Chinese government.

"It is hoped that through contact and consultation, the Dalai side will take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks," Xinhua quoted the official as saying. China has been coming under mounting global pressure, including from US President George W Bush, to hold dialogue with the Dalai Lama since the anti-government protests erupted in Tibet which was followed by Chinese crackdown in the Himalayan region.

The new round of meeting between Chinese officials and envoy of the Dalai Lama is expected to bring an end to pro-Tibetan protests that have disrupted the Beijing Olympic torch relay and threaten to spill over into the Games set to start here on August 8. China has previously held six rounds of low-key and in-camera meetings with the Dalai Lama's representatives, but none have taken place since July 2007.

World leaders, particularly U.S. President George W. Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, have repeatedly asked China to resume discussions with the Dalai Lama on the Tibet issue. "If they ever were to reach out to the Dalai Lama, they'd find him to be a really fine man, a peaceful man, a man who is anti-violence, a man who is not for independence but for the cultural identity of the Tibetans being maintained," Bush said on April 9.

The Olympic torch relay has been targeted on its global tour by pro-Tibet demonstrators in London, Paris, and San Francisco, giving bad publicity for China and the Games. Beijing, which will host the Olympics in August, had so far resisted the pressure and accused the Dalai Lama of instigating the violence, which the Nobel Prize winner denies.

Rallies began in Lhasa on 10 March, led by Buddhist monks. Protests then spread and became violent - particularly in Lhasa where ethnic Chinese were targeted and shops were burnt down. China cracked down on the Tibetan protesters, sending in troops to quell violence and regain control of the restive areas. The riots claimed at least 20 lives. China has been insisting that the doors for the dialogue with the Dalai Lama were open but he must give up what it called his "separatist activities", stop attempts to "sabotage" the Beijing Olympics and accept Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of China.