Beijing hopes that the new round of dialogue will lead the Dalai Lama to take credible moves to stop activities aimed at splitting China, stop plotting and inciting violence and stop disrupting and sabotaging the Beijing Olympic Games so as to create conditions for talks.

Beijing has told the Dalai Lama that he must end his quest for Tibetan independence and stop the anti-China protests in his Himalayan homeland that erupted in mid-March and spread to neighbouring regions.

China has accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting the Tibetan unrest and of doing so in an effort to sabotage the Beijing Olympics. The Dalai Lama has rejected the allegations.

The 2008 Olympic torch relay has been targeted on its ourneys by pro-Tibet demonstrators in London, Paris, and San Francisco.

Stops in those cities attracted tens of thousands of demonstrators and prompted dozens of arrests.