U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday said that the United States would like to set up a consulate in Tibet, as U.S. President George W. Bush urged for dialogue between China and exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. Rice said that it is seeking to set up the consulate in Tibet, where China allows for limited and insufficient access to U.S. diplomats. Rice told the Senate Appropriations Committee that United States “pressed for consular access for diplomats into Tibet. We got some limited access, but frankly it wasn't good enough.” Rice also added that the United States “has been very active in making the case to the Chinese that they are going to be better off to deal with moderate forces on Tibet like the Dalai Lama, that they should open a dialogue with him.” Speaking at a photo opportunity with the Singapore Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong, Bush echoed Rice's remarks and called for peace in Tibet and restored relations between China and the Dalai Lama. Bush said that both he and Tong “agree that it would stand the Chinese government in good stead if they would, you know, begin a dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama. 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.”
