In response to written questions from the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Tillerson said he will continue to encourage dialogue between Beijing and representatives of "Tibetan government-in-exile" or the Dalai Lama, India-based media outlet thetibetpost.com reported on Thursday.

 

Tillerson also give an affirmative answer to whether he would commit to receiving and meeting with the Dalai Lama, the report said.

 

It's impossible for the Chinese government to "have a dialogue" with the illegal group that is aiming to split China, and Tillerson's remarks shows he is a complete amateur on Tibet-related questions, Zhu Weiqun, head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told the Global Times.

 

"The one and only sensible thing the 'government-in-exile' can do is to dissolve itself," said Zhu.

 

China will not change its policy to support the development of the Tibetan society, nor will the country stop protecting its sovereignty over the region, said Zhu.

 

He added that the new US government should carefully study the policy and that its "attention" to the Tibet question will only bring endless trouble and burden for the US.

 

Zhu further pointed out that the US government has used the Dalai Lama to create problems for China's unity and stability, which has brought no benefit to the US while caused damage to Sino-US relations.