Credit where it's due. According to reports, Gordon Brown has today agreed to meet the Dalai Lama in the UK in May, after talking to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. "The Premier told me that subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet and that he renounces violence - that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue with the Dalai Lama," Mr Brown said. According to the Telegraph, The Dalai Lama said last Sunday that he would resign as spiritual leader of the Tibetan government in exile if the violence by Tibetans continues: "If things become out of control then my only option is to completely resign," he told reporters at his Indian base in Dharamsala. He added: "Even if 1,000 Tibetans sacrificed their life [this would be] not much help". "Please help stop violence from Chinese side and also from the Tibetan side." Aides later explained that he would only renounce his political status as leader of the government in exile and would remain the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. So no need for a summit meeting round at our offices after all. What a relief.
