Beijing, November 18:

China said today that any move to separate Tibet from China was “doomed,” reinforcing its hard-line stance as exiled Tibetan leaders hold talks in India on the future of the Himalayan region.

The comments from Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang came as more than 500 Tibetan exile leaders held all-day closed door discussions today as part of a weeklong meeting, the first major re-evaluation of their strategy since the Dalai Lama in 1988 outlined his Nobel Peace Prize-winning “middle way,” which pushes for autonomy but not outright independence for the Himalayan region.

The meeting in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala , the base of Tibet’s self-proclaimed government-in-exile, was called by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. It comes after he expressed frustration over years of fruitless talks with China and follows this spring’s uprising by Tibetans across western China that was aggressively put down by Beijing.

“Any attempt to separate Tibet from Chinese territory will be doomed. The so-called Tibet government in exile is not recognised by any government in the world,” Qin told a news conference today.

Similar statements in the past from China have led the exiled leaders to question their own methods.

“The middle way approach has failed, it has not produced any results,” said Karma Chophel, speaker of the exile Parliament. “In that light, the Tibetan public should come out with an opinion about what to do.” China insists Tibet has been part of its territory for 700 years, although many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that time. Chinese forces invaded shortly after the 1949 communist revolution and the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 amid an unsuccessful uprising.

Large numbers of Tibetans remain fervently Buddhist and loyal to the Dalai Lama. If the exiles choose a more confrontational approach, Tibetans living under Chinese rule would bear the brunt of any government response.

Much of the debate is expected to boil down to two main choices: whether to continue pursuing the politics of compromise or to begin a long-shot independence movement - a move almost certain to end talks held intermittently with Beijing since 2002.

Some factions are urging more protests, angrier protests, or more pressure on Western nations, with one very small group even pushing for sabotage of China’s infrastructure.

Samdhong Rinpoche, the exile prime minister, told the meeting Monday there would be an

“open and frank discussion.” He said the meeting may not lead to a new approach, and that any new path needs to have “the clear mandate of the people.” The Dalai Lama was not expected to attend; he said he did not want to tilt the debate.

Any deviation from current policies was almost certain to scuttle the tenuous ties with Beijing, which has long accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting an independence movement.

Analysts said a strong anti-Beijing sentiment could play into China’s hands.

“It seems to be a possible Chinese strategy to make the radical section much stronger,” said Robbie Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University. “It would mean no contacts with China and make contacts with the international community very difficult.” That would be fine with some delegates.

“We can’t live with China,” said Lobsang Phelgye, 55, who came to Dharamsala from the exile community in Nepal.

The Dalai Lama’s envoys to the recent talks with Beijing said in a statement Sunday that they had presented China with a detailed plan on how Tibetans could meet their autonomy needs within the framework of China’s constitution.

The plan calls for the protection for the Tibetan language and culture, restrictions on non-Tibetans moving into Tibet and the rights of Tibetans to create an autonomous government.

But China apparently rejected the plan. Chinese officials said no progress was made in the talks two weeks ago, calling the Tibetan stance “a trick” and saying it lacked sincerity.

Tibetan envoy Lodi Gyari said the Chinese failed to respond to “our sincere and genuine attempts.” China has dismissed this week’s meeting as meaningless, saying the participants do not represent the views of most Tibetans.

Chophel, the parliament speaker, said more than 8,000 of 17,000 Tibetans recently surveyed in Tibet said they would follow any decision by the Dalai Lama. More than 5,000 said they wanted Tibetan independence - more than twice the number who wanted to continue with the current approach, he said.