Kean Wong:
Envoys to the Dalai Lama meet with the Chinese communist regime for the first time since the brutal crackdown on Tibetan citizens and monks. The envoys and the Chinese government agreed to further contact after a day of talks in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.

[Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, Dalai Lama Envoy]:
"We were all very candid. We had a candid discussion. It is always a good first step."

The Tibetan riots and protests following a wave of arrests and violence on the part of Chinese police have been the most serious challenge to Chinese rule in the mountainous region for nearly two decades. They prompted anti-China protests that disrupted the international leg of the Olympic torch relay and led to calls to boycott August's Beijing Games.

The Chinese regime reportedly agreed to the talks after appeals by U.S. president George W. Bush and other Western leaders. Some Western leaders linked said their attendance to the opening ceremony with the presence of talks with the Dalai Lama. But the first round of talks did not lead to any breakthroughs.