The Journey of Harmony planned by China for the Olympic torch began at last with its return home today to a rapturous welcome after an international odyssey disrupted repeatedly by pro-Tibet demonstrators.

However, the unrest in Tibet continued to cast a shadow over the Beijing Games. Representatives of the exiled Dalai Lama sat down with Chinese officials in southern China for their first talks since Tibetans chafing under Beijing rule rioted in the streets of the region’s capital, Lhasa, on March 14.

In rare public remarks on the Dalai Lama, Chinese President Hu Jintao said he hoped the meeting would lead to positive results. But his comments made clear that China wants Tibet’s traditional spiritual and temporal leader to give more ground in recognising that the Himalayan region is an integral part of China and not an independent entity.

President Hu said: “When determining a person’s position, we must not only listen to what he says but also watch his deeds. The door to dialogue has always been open. We sincerely hope the Dalai side can show through action that they have genuinely stopped separatist activities, stopped plots to incite violence and stopped sabotaging the Beijing Olympics.” Only such actions, said China’s president, who was once Communist Party boss of the restive region, would create the conditions for a next round of talks.

The talks, which began amid great secrecy in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen on the border with Hong Kong and are expected to last one or two days, are the first in about a year between the two sides. China announced this week that it was ready for the meeting, apparently bowing to growing international pressure to reach an accommodation with the Dalai Lama and halt popular anger in the West over its heavy-handed policies in Tibet.

The anti-Chinese protests that have rippled through swathes of Tibetan areas mark the most serious challenge to Beijing rule in the mountainous region for nearly two decades. The unrest triggered anti-China protests along the route of the Olympic torch around the world and brought calls for Western leaders to boycott August’s Beijing Games.

China’s Communist Party leaders appeared to feel the heat and offered the talks. But little progress is expected. The demand by President Hu for action fits with expectations that China wants the Dalai Lama to exert his influence to cool passions among the Tibetans, who remain deeply loyal to their God-king. That would ensure calm on the Roof of the World until after the Olympics.

After that, Beijing will expect to have regained control over the restive region and will feel scant pressure to make concessions that could lead to the return of the 14th reincarnation of the Ocean of Peace. The monk fled his homeland in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule and has since lived in exile in northern India.

China continued to hurl invective at the Dalai Lama even as Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s representative in Washington and the main negotiator in previous rounds, sat down with vice ministers from the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department that is responsible for contacts with religious leaders and ethnic minorities. A commentary in the Tibet Daily, mouthpiece of the Tibet regional government, accused the Dalai Lama of being a “loyal tool of international anti-Chinese forces” and attempting to split Tibet from China.

The Dalai Lama insists he wants a high level of autonomy, not independence, for the predominantly Buddhist Himalayan region. He says he opposes violence and supports the Beijing Olympics. China says he is insincere.

Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the Dalai Lama, said: “We hope the Chinese are serious about the talks and we are hopeful that the Chinese are willing to look into the problems in Tibet.” Analysts say China is likely to be playing for time. Six rounds of talks between the two sides since 2002 have brought no progress in narrowing differences or any sign that China is ready to give ground in its rule over Tibet. The eruption of violence in Lhasa and demonstrations in dozens of other Tibetan cities that have embarrassed Beijing as it prepares to host the Olympics will harden China’s determination to win greater concessions from the monk it publicly reviles.

All the controversy was forgotten on the southern tropical island of Hainan, where the torch began its two-month journey through all of China’s provinces and regions including Tibet.

Chinese Olympic speed skating gold medallist Yang Yang was the first person to carry the torch. “I don’t believe this is real!” she enthused. “I have no way of describing how excited I am.” Thousands flocked to welcome the torch for a Games that most Chinese see as testimony to China’s arrival as a major player on the world stage. Games organisers said: “The sacred Olympic flame relay will have a ’Journey of Harmony’ through the land of China.” Protests are unthinkable.

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