U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday called Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi to discuss Tibet and Iran's nuclear program, U.S. officials said. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice contacted Jiechi in an effort to ease the now tense and violent relations between China and Tibet. The Chinese have long taken issue with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, while the U.S. and its allies are urging peace between the two. “The secretary [Rice] reiterated what you have heard us say in public, and that is encouraging the Chinese government to engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama and his people.” McCormack also said that the two “spoke about Iran, the efforts of the P-5-plus-1 to work on the two pathways, the incentives and disincentives package,” for Iran's nuclear program.
