China confirms meeting with Dalai Lama envoys

China on Thursday confirmed that a senior Communist Party official had met envoys of the Dalai Lama in the first official statement about the talks this week.

The official Xinhua news agency said Du Qinglin, head of the Party's United Front Work Department, which deals with ethnic minorities and religious groups, had "met with private representatives of the 14th Dalai Lama here recently." (Reuters)