BEIJING: China’s Foreign Ministry denounced the prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile on Friday as a separatist who had never done a good thing in his life, in a sign that Beijing is unlikely to resume talks anytime soon.

Lobsang Sangay told Reuters on Thursday he was hopeful Chinese President Xi Jinping would resume formal talks and soften China’s handling of Tibet. But the unusually harsh comments by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei suggested the chances of that happening were remote.

“The relevant person is 100 percent a splittist. He is the ringleader of the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile. He has never done anything good on the Tibet issue,” Hong told a daily news briefing.

The body he leads is illegal under Chinese law as it seeks to separate Tibet from China for the purposes of its independence, and is not recognised by any country, Hong added.

“People can only laugh at the slander he makes about Tibet’s situation.”