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There's a handy way of finding out which VIP is in Beijing - look at the flagpoles in Tiananmen Square. Every time the Chinese government hosts a visiting king, sultan, president, prime minister etc, the flag of that leader's country gets raised in the centre of the capital (along with the Chinese flag.)

China's flag raisers are kept pretty busy - Beijing has become an obligatory stop for world leaders keen to make a mark or do business. Today the red, white, and blue flag of Thailand flew from Tiananmen to mark the visit of the Thai Prime Minister.

But there are two officials on their way to China who won't be honoured with a flag. Representatives of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, are coming here for talks with the Chinese government. This'll be the held between the two sides since protests in Tibet in March.

China has laid out its ground rules. It says that the Dalai Lama and his followers ("the Dalai clique" in China's words) have to renounce violence and accept China's territorial integrity. The Dalai Lama's supporters answer this by saying that Tibet's exiled leader condemns violence and calls for autonomy for Tibetans - not full-fledged independence.

So, what does the Chinese government really think of the Dalai Lama?

Compare two quotes ...

"The Dalai is a wolf in monk's robes, a devil with a human face, but the heart of a beast."
• Zhang Qingli, Communist Party chief, Tibet, March 2008 (quoted by Associated Press.)

"Our door is always open for the dialog with the Dalai Lama [... ] (We) hope that the Dalai Lama would treasure this opportunity and give positive response to the requirements of the central authorities."
• unnamed government spokesman, Xinhua news agency, 29th June 2008

Which approach will prevail in the talks? We'll try to find out.

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