Washington, 3 November 1997 (RFE/RL) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has named a special coordinator for Tibetan issues, including human rights and religious freedom.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said Friday Albright chose director of policy planning Gregory Craig for the post. He said Craig will continue in his present post as director of policy planning at the State Department.
Rubin said Craig will focus on helping to preserve what he said is the unique religious, cultural and linguistic heritage of Tibet.
He said Craig's central objective will also be to promote substantive dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama.
The issue of religious persecution in Tibet was raised by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Albright at the summit earlier this week with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.