In 1987 and 1988, the 14th Dalai Lama proposed that the government of the People's Republic of China would remain responsible for Tibet's foreign policy while Tibet would be governed by its own constitution or basic law, and that the Tibetan government would comprise a popularly elected chief executive, a bicameral legislature and an independent legal system. Ten years later, in 1998, the Dalai Lama expressed his great disappointment. ‘Sadly, the Chinese government has not responded positively to my proposals and initiatives over the past 18 years for a negotiated resolution of our problem within the framework [apart from the question of total independence of Tibet all other issues could be discussed and resolved] stated by Mr Deng Xiaoping’ (Shiromany 1998: 144).

Over the years, Western leaders and governments have pressed the Chinese leadership to talk with the Dalai Lama. In October 2001 the US Congress passed the Tibetan Policy Act initiated by Dianne Feinstein, the US Senator from San Francisco, and Tom Lantos, Representative of San Mateo County. EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten and Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes also called on China to begin dialogue with the Dalai Lama in March 2002 (Tibetan Bulletin, Jan-Apr 2002: 9). A twenty-strong European delegation to China in July 2002 urged dialogue between Beijing and the exiled government of the Dalai Lama, but was told by China's leader Li Peng and Vice-Premier Qian Qichen that Beijing was not ready for talks with the Tibetan leader (Canada Tibet Committee 2002). In response to the March 2008 Tibetan uprising and Chinese government crackdown, some Western leaders as well as influential celebrities boycotted the Beijing Olympic Games, while others conditioned their attendance on progress being made in talks between China and the Dalai Lama's envoy (Traynor and Watts 2008). In recent years Western leaders have also been meeting with the Dalai Lama, including the US President in February 2010 and the UK Prime Minister in May 2012, despite protests from Beijing.

So far Beijing has not accepted the Dalai Lama's proposals but has allowed visits to China led by the Dalai Lama's special envoy, Lodi Gyari. Gyari led the first delegation to China and Tibet in September 2002. A year later, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, accompanied by Sonam N. Dagpo and Bhuchung K. Tsering, visited the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Yunnan from 25 May to 8 June 2003.