BEIJING — A senior Chinese religious official on March 11 urged the Dalai Lama to “forsake his evil ways and return to the good”, stressing that Tibet will not descend into chaos.

“We hope the Dalai Lama can abandon his separatist stance and his deceptive ‘middle way’ approach,” said Zhu Weiqun, head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body.

The core contents of the “middle way” approach, proposed by the political exile in the 1980s, are “Greater Tibet” and “high-level autonomy” of the southwestern Chinese autonomous region.

Zhu, also a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, called on the Dalai Lama and his followers to stop inciting self-immolation among the Tibetan people and sincerely discuss with the central government about the future of himself.

He reiterated that the central government will not talk about Tibet’s “high-level autonomy” or the “Greater Tibet” with him.

Chinese authorities have said that the door for dialogue with the Dalai Lama is always open but when the dialogue will be held depends on the attitude of the Dalai Lama.

Over the past years, fewer world leaders met with the Dalai Lama who have been trying to visit different countries and regions, Zhu said, attributing the monk’s growing unpopularity to the development and stability of Tibet in recent years, and the rising living standards of the Tibetans.

“We hope that the Daila Lama’s visits will not affect the development of the good relationship between China and relevant countries,” the official said.