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China's state-run Xinhua news agency announced Friday that Beijing would meet an envoy of the Tibetan leader for talks in the coming days.

"We have had six rounds of talks but nothing happened and this time if China is serious, then it is good but if it wants to show the world that 'we are talking' then there is no use in meeting," the Dalai Lama's spokesman Tenzin Takla told AFP.

"We have to consider everything," he added.

The warning came amid reports that Lodhi Gyari, a special envoy of the Tibetan spiritual leader, who has headed the previous rounds of inconclusive talks with China since 2002, would arrive in India on Wednesday.

Takla confirmed envoy Gyari's planned trip but did not elaborate, except to say he would travel to the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala for "consultations" with the self-exiled Tibetan leadership.

The spokesman of the 72-year-old Nobel laureate also said there was an urgent need to reopen contacts as the Chinese crackdown in the Tibetan region had been stepped up.

"Ongoing repression inside Tibet has been stepped up," Takla said by telephone from Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile are headquartered.

"Army troops are surrounding monasteries and arrests are going on," Talka said of the Chinese crackdown, which followed deadly anti-Beijing riots that erupted in the regional capital Lhasa on March 10.

"And his holiness feels to solve the problems we have to meet for talks," the official said.

Analysts say the offer by China, which hosts the August Olympics in Beijing, was a response to the intense global pressure over its crackdown in the remote Himalayan region.

Tibetan sources told AFP that an apex forum of the International Tibetan Support Network -- a policy-making global body for the refugees -- was currently meeting in Dharamsala to review events.

"The 32 members of the apex group are taking stock of the situation and also discussing the Chinese offer of talks with representatives of his holiness the Dalai Lama," a source from the Tibetan administration said.

The Dalai Lama, who returned from the United States on Saturday, is now scheduled to leave on a two-week trip to Britain and Germany on May 14, Takla said, without giving details of the itinerary.

India gave the Dalai Lama and his supporters sanctuary after the Tibetan leader, disguised as a Chinese soldier, fled his homeland in 1959 following an abortive anti-Beijing uprising in the region.

Photo: AFP

Vocabulary

envoy, n: official representative

spiritual, adj: religious; concerning morals and religion

inconclusive, adj: without final result or outcome

to elaborate, v: to explain carefully and in detail

consultations, n: meeting at which people exchange opinions and give advice

self-exiled, adj: having moved to a foreign country of one's own will for political reasons

laureate, n: person who has been honoured with a specific award, e.g. Nobel prize

crackdown, n: strict and strong enforcement of regulations

repression, n: use of force to bring someone under complete control

sanctuary, n: place where someone cannot be arrested or harmed

Questions

1. What is the problem?

a. China was attacked by Tibet.

b. The Chinese crackdown in Tibet has intensified.

c. Tibetans have put a boycott on the Olympic Games.

d. The Dalai Lama refuses to lead the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

2. What is the Dalai Lama worried about?

a. that Chinese negotiators refuse to pay his ransom

b. that other countries might stop supplying him with weapons

c. that the talks will be successful and he has to return to Tibet

d. that China doesn't want to find a solution to the problem in Tibet

3. Why do analysts think China is offering talks on Tibet?

a. Global pressure forced them to.

b. China is worried about the escalating violence by her troops.

c. They want Tibetans to cheer Chinese athletes at the Olympics.

d. They want Tibetan athletes to participate in the Olympics for China.

4. How old is the Dalai Lama?

a. 19

b. 32

c. 59

d. 72

5. Where do the exiled Tibetan leaders live?

a. East Mongolia

b. Northern India

c. Southern China

d. Central Myanmar

Synonyms

Which of the following words or phrases replace the ones in the passage best?

1. pointless

a. boring

b. lengthy

c. repetitive

d. senseless

2. consider

a. force

b. doubt

c. ponder

d. explain

3. amid

a. after

b. during

c. before

d. instead of

4. head

a. host

b. direct

c. initiate

d. dominate

5. step up

a. solve

b. justify

c. improve

d. intensify

KEY

Questions             1. b, 2. d, 3. a, 4. d, 5. b

Synonyms             1. d, 2. c, 3. b, 4. b, 5. d

By Ajarn Horst Baelz