DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has kept reaching out to Beijing, despite being vilified by China as "mastermind" of a drive to sabotage the Olympics and destabilise the country.
Just days before the Games in Beijing opened Friday, the exiled Buddhist god-king sent "his prayers and good wishes for the success" of the Olympics and called the event "a moment of great pride" for the 1.3 billion Chinese people.
The spiritual leader's conciliatory words came even though China has repeatedly accused him of seeking to "destroy" the Games and of fomenting unrest in Tibet to embarrass Beijing -- charges he has strenuously rejected.
The Dalai Lama has been a regular on the diplomatic stage for decades in his quest for more cultural autonomy for his remote Tibetan homeland.
He was thrust back into the spotlight when peaceful protests in Tibet flared into deadly violence in March, casting a shadow over the Games which Beijing sees as a showcase for its rising status.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say 203 people died in the clampdown, although China has reported killing just one Tibetan "insurgent" and accused "rioters" of being responsible for 21 deaths.
Clad in the maroon robes of a monk, he is loved by supporters for his contagious laugh and engaging grin, set off by oversized glasses, and is regarded by many as a visionary equal to Indian independence icon Mahatma Ghandi.
His title translates as "Ocean Teacher," a metaphor for the depth of his spirituality. But the Nobel peace laureate has been branded by China as a "monster" trying to split the nation.
The Dalai Lama fled his Himalayan homeland after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. He champions a non-violent campaign for greater "cultural autonomy" for the region from his exile base here in northern India.
Leaders such as Gandhi and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. "have shown us successful changes can be brought about non-violently," the Dalai Lama says.
He has been a powerful rallying point for the six million Tibetans living in exile or in their homeland, while also being a friend to kings, politicians, celebrities and the poor.
Born into a peasant farming family in the Tibetan village of Taksar on July 6, 1935, Lhamo Dhondrub was chosen as the 14th incarnation of the Dalai Lama at the age of two.
Considered a Buddhist Master exempt from the religion's wheel of death and reincarnation, he was taken to the capital Lhasa's palace to be trained to lead his people. But at 16 he was called on to become head of state when China invaded Tibet in 1950.
He tried to keep the peace but the effort failed in 1959 when China poured troops into the region to crush an uprising and reneged on a pledge to grant Tibet autonomy.
The Dalai Lama, disguised as a soldier, trekked for 13 days through the Himalayas and crossed into India, which offered him Dharamshala as a base and allowed him to set up a government-in-exile.
According to officials, at least 100,000 Tibetans live in exile in India which, after fighting a war with China in 1962, barred the Dalai Lama from using its soil as a springboard for a Tibetan independence movement.
The Dalai Lama's campaign to reclaim Tibet slowly morphed into a plea to Chinese authorities for autonomy for his people. He insists his moderate "middle path" approach to the impasse is in the Tibetans' best interests.
His calming influence has so far managed to bridge a divide between moderates within the Tibetan government-in-exile and hardliners who oppose any deal with China short of full independence.
But moderates fear the recent violence in Tibet could radicalise the movement.
"Use of force by China has caused great disturbance to Tibetans and we fear the Tibetans will lose the direction" of what has been a non-violent freedom struggle, the government-in-exile's premier Samdhong Rinpochehe said recently.
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