WORLD IN BRIEF : CHINA : Li Limits Any Talks With Dalai Lama

Chinese Premier Li Peng, visiting India, offered to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibet, on any subject except Tibetan independence. Li, whose visit has been dogged by protests from Tibetan refugees, reiterated Beijing’s position that Tibet is a province of China and there is no room to discuss independence. Before Li’s six-day visit began, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile said the Chinese were approached with a proposal for a meeting between Li and the Dalai Lama, who was at his home in Dharmsala, north of New Delhi.