The Dalai Lama must stop his ''separatist activities'' to have any hope of returning to Tibet, China's ambassador to Italy told a press conference here Monday.
''Chinese policy is clear: the door is always open and the Dalai Lama can come back at any time but obviously under certain conditions,'' said Ambassador Sun Yuxi.
''First and foremost he must stop his separatist activities,'' said the ambassador, who said he was very familiar with the Tibetan situation because of his previous posting to India, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Sun said the exiled spiritual leader, who has been based in India since 1959, had advanced claims over Tibet and another four neighbouring areas, an area that ''together represents a quarter of the whole of China''.
The ambassador claimed independence moves were the work of a minority in Tibet and stressed the ''major'' benefits China had brought to the isolated country, replacing medieval serfdom with democracy.
He said Tibet's identity as part of China had ''roots going back thousands of years'' and ''the post of Dalai Lama was created by the emperor of China in the 17th century''.
With the international spotlight on it because of the August Olympic Games, China has been defending its Tibet policy in the wake of a crackdown on a two-week Buddhist monk-led uprising in March.
The uprising left more than 100 dead, 100 missing and 1,200 in jail, according to figures released by he Tibetan government-in-exile.
China, which invaded Tibet in 1950, said 18 civilians and two policemen were killed by protesters.
The crackdown led to widespread but unsuccessful calls for a boycott of the Games' opening ceremony.
