Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dalai Lama not serious about talks with Beijing: report


The Dalai Lama speaks to the faithful at a Kalachakra for World Peace in Washington July 6, 2011. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
(Reuters) - Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is not serious about talking with Beijing, but the government will never make any compromises with him to get him back to the table, a major Chinese newspaper said on Tuesday.
China, while always keeping a tight grip on Tibet, has been more hardline than normal of late, as senior leaders gear up for a key leadership transition starting from late next year and take steps to ensure nothing distracts from that.
Vice-President Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to become president in 2013, gave a toughly worded speech last week in Tibet, suggesting that China's heir apparent to the presidency will not ease Beijing's stance toward the region.
The commentary in Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, continued in that vein, saying the Dalai Lama's recent remarks on his overseas visits show that he will never accept Beijing's preconditions for talks.
"The Dalai Lama's recent comments clearly show that their position is totally and diametrically opposite that of the central government," the newspaper wrote, referring to the exiled Tibetans.
"(He) has no sincere intention to talk, and no interest in talks. In reality, (he) has already completely blocked the path to talks," it added.
President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House this month infuriated China, which brooks no "outside interference" in what it considers a purely internal matter.
China says that it will only talk about the Dalai Lama's personal future, but not with the government-in-exile, and that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate monk must renounce his support for Tibetan independence.
The newspaper used extensive quotes from the Dalai Lama to demonstrate his "inflammatory" support for Tibet's independence, and cited his suggestions that China's Communist Party had its day and should now step down.
The Dalai Lama says he wants only true autonomy for Tibet, something China says it already has.
"There is only one possibility, and that is that the Dalai Lama moves toward accepting the central government's demands, for the central government will never make concessions," the paper said.
China has held on-off talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys for several years, without any sign of progress.
China has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since 1950, when Communist troops marched in and announced its "peaceful liberation." The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising, and unrest has continued sporadically ever since.

Friday, July 29, 2011

A Young Tibetan Lama Prepares for a Greater Role


WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — At the age of 7, he was deemed to be the 17th reincarnation of the Karmapa — one of the most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism — and whisked from the yak-hair tent of his nomad family in the Himalayas to be groomed in a monastery for leadership.
Now 26, his mere appearance on the stage alongside the Dalai Lama at a major ceremony in Washington this month sent a flutter of excitement through the Tibetans in the crowd. Here was more evidence to them that the Dalai Lama had taken the young Karmapa under his wing, serving as teacher and father figure in India, where both live in exile, because China claims sovereignty over Tibet.
The Karmapa and the Dalai Lama lead different Tibetan Buddhist lineages and are not equals; the Dalai Lama, who is 76, is the pre-eminent spiritual leader of Tibet. And yet, many Tibetans are looking to the Karmapa to assume the mantle of the Dalai Lama when the elder lama dies, to take on the role as shepherd of the Tibetan people and lead them home from exile.
The succession talk appears to be burdensome for the young Karmapa, a solid 6-footer with a serene gaze whose name is Ogyen Trinley Dorje. Asked about his future during an interview at the mountainside monastery here that is his North American seat, the Karmapa said that the Dalai Lama had made it clear that his hopes for the future of Tibet rested with its young leaders.
“In that regard, His Holiness has been very kind to me, and has served as a mentor and guides me greatly,” the Karmapa said in Tibetan, translated by an American lama. “But I’m only one of many.”
Then, breaking into English, he added, “I don’t need more pressure.” The Karmapa smiled, and then grew serious and added in Tibetan: “I don’t think I can do any more. It’s hard enough just to be the Karmapa.”
His Holiness the Karmapa, has just come through a trying time. Earlier this year, he was investigated by the Indian police who found more than $1 million in foreign currency in his residence, including more than $166,000 from China.
The Karmapa and his aides insisted that the money had been donated by devotees who flocked to India from around the world to see him. Although there is a rival who also claims the title, the Karmapa is regarded by the Dalai Lama and most Tibetans as the leader of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu lineage, one of the four main schools in Tibetan Buddhism, with hundreds of monasteries and dharma centers in more than 60 countries.
The Karmapa’s aides said they planned to use the money to buy land for a monastery in India. But the Indian media fanned rumors that he was a Chinese spy.
To Tibetans and to scholars of Tibetan Buddhism, the notion is absurd. The Karmapa fled Tibet when he was 14, climbing out a window of his monastery to a waiting car, avoiding military checkpoints and riding a horse through the Nepalese outback to reach India. The escape was reminiscent of the Dalai Lama’s dash over the icy passes of the Himalayas in 1959.
But the rumors about the 17th Karmapa persisted in part because the Chinese government has recognized him as the legitimate leader of the Kagyu tradition, and avoided denouncing him even after his flight to India. That is in marked contrast to the Chinese denunciations of the Dalai Lama as a “splittist.”
This puts the Karmapa in a singular position, said Robert J. Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University.
“The Karmapa is perfectly placed to be someone who could broker a solution in the future,” Mr. Barnett said. “This is one of the rather rare issues where exiles and those in Tibet are in agreement. They have very wide respect for the Karmapa.”
The rival Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, has the backing of one senior lama in the Kagyu tradition and some followers in the West (who managed to secure the rights to the Web address karmapa.org). But Mr. Barnett likened the rivalry to the “birther controversy” involving President Obama. “For most people, this is a settled issue,” he said.
Tenzin Chonyi, president of the Woodstock monastery (called Karma Triyana Dharmachakra), was an aide to the 16th Karmapa, and as a child fled Tibet with him in 1959. He said the 17th Karmapa was identified by a group of lamas who were entrusted with the task of finding the child who they believe is the reincarnation of the previous Karmapa.
“This Karmapa was found based on the previous Karmapa’s instruction,” Mr. Chonyi said. “So we have no doubt.”
In response to the Indian police investigation, Tibetans turned out by the thousands to demonstrate their support for the Karmapa. The Tibetan government in exile sent delegations to New Delhi. The Indian police quickly cleared him.
Several months later, the Indian government gave him permission to travel to the United States, permission it had denied since his first trip to the United States in 2008.
Asked whether the suspicions had damaged relations between India and the Tibetans in exile there, the Karmapa took the long view.
“The connection between India and the Tibetan people is thousands of years old,” he said. “It is a spiritual connection and a cultural connection and is one of great affection. After all, the spiritual path of Buddhism, the spiritual path pursued by the majority of Tibetans, came from India to Tibet.”
He added, “This connection is one that has lasted generation after generation, and so I don’t think that this connection is in any danger.”
On his last trip to the United States, the Karmapa steered clear of politics. But this time, he did not mince words when asked about Tibet. He said Tibet was “in an emergency” that had only grown worse since the Chinese crackdown on the Tibetan demonstrations in 2008.
“The government of China has continued to be extremely restrictive,” by limiting the activities of monasteries and the number of monks, he said.
“The building of infrastructure — roads, trains, airports and so on — and the largeimmigration of people from central China into Tibet threaten the survival of Tibetan culture and the ecosystem,” he said.
“It is a very good sign,” he said, that President Obama met with the Dalai Lama this month.
The Karmapa will speak at Hunter College in New York City on Friday night. He said he would talk about compassion — not politics — which his devotees say is really the calling of a reincarnate lama.
“You could say he’s in his 20s, and he’s 900 years old at the same time,” said Lama Kathy Wesley, a longtime American convert to Tibetan Buddhism and a board member at the Woodstock monastery. “The wisdom mind of the first Karmapa is said to continue in him.
Source Credit: The New York Times

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

China's Police Shoot Xinjiang Rioters as Xi Warns on Tibet


Source Credit: San Francisco Chronicle
July 19 (Bloomberg) -- China's Vice President Xi Jinping warned Tibetans against separatist activities after forces fired on rioters in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, underscoring the struggle to manage ethnic tensions.
China will fight against separatist activities by the "Dalai group," the official Xinhua News Agency cited Xi as saying in a speech in Lhasa today, a reference to supporters of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader. The government will "completely destroy" any attempt to undermine stability in Tibet and unity in China, Xi said.
His remarks followed yesterday's assault on a police station in the ethnic Uighur-dominated city of Hotan that killed two hostages, two policemen and a security guard, the People's Daily said. The violence was an "organized terrorist attack," the Global Times cited a local official as saying.
The unrest "reflects the lack of progress in handling the ethnic minority issue," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at the City University in Hong Kong. "Although the Chinese authorities have spent more resources, stepped up economic support to the regions, the situation remains very tense."
The assailants set fire to the police station and used grenades and explosive devices, the Global Times cited Hou Hanmin, chief of the regional information office, as saying. The Global Times is an English-language newspaper run by the People's Daily, which is controlled by China's Communist Party.
Corrupt Officials
China has also struggled to quell uprisings aimed at corrupt officials and has moved to discipline them. Authorities today executed a former vice mayor of the eastern city of Hangzhou and an ex-vice mayor of Suzhou city, who were convicted of bribery, Xinhua said, citing the Supreme People's Court.
Xinjiang, where the central government in Beijing faces sporadic challenges to its power, was the scene of clashes two years ago involving Uighurs that left almost 200 people dead. Vice President Xi is in Tibet to mark the 60th anniversary of that region's "peaceful liberation" by China. Like Xinjiang, Tibet has seen protests by Tibetans over discrimination and for greater independence.
The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, citing unidentified people in Xinjiang, said police fired on about 100 Uighurs protesters in the city's main bazaar, according to a statement from the affiliated Washington-based Uyghur American Association. The demonstration was against land seizures and disappearances after the riots two years ago, the group said.
'Extreme Caution'
"People should view the Chinese government statements with extreme caution," said Amy Reger, a researcher for the Uyghur American Association.
Years of central government policies encouraging migration of majority Han Chinese to areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang have stoked ethnic tensions. China views groups pushing for greater independence as seditious.
The Dalai Lama this week met U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, drawing protests from China.
Muslim Uighurs, who make up less than half of Xinjiang's population of 20 million, complain of discrimination by the Han, China's dominant ethnic group, and unfair division of the region's resources. About 96 percent of Hotan's population is Uighur and 3.5 percent Han, the People's Daily said. The Han make up more than 90 percent of China's 1.3 billion people.
Energy Reserves
The landlocked region, about three times the size of France, has China's second-highest oil and natural gas reserves and was its biggest cotton producer. China last year began taxing profits on resources extracted from Xinjiang, keeping the money inside the region.
Tens of thousands of security personnel were deployed in the provincial capital of Urumqi to quell the unrest in July 2009, Internet and mobile phone connections to Xinjiang were cut and President Hu Jintao was forced to leave early from a meeting with Group of Eight leaders in Italy.
The Xinjiang riots also come as protests increase across China as income gaps widen. So-called mass incidents -- riots, strikes and protests -- doubled in five years to 180,000 in 2010, Sun Liping, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University, said in a Feb. 25 article in the Economic Observer.
Hotan is in southwestern Xinjiang, near China's border with India and Afghanistan. The central government sent an anti- terrorist task force to Xinjiang after yesterday's riot, Xinhua News Agency said.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/07/19/bloomberg1376-LOIWXW6K50XU01-3E923L0HMVANKVRKUR8N7LQUEA.DTL#ixzz1ShYwdate

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Beijing fury as Obama meets the Dalai Lama

Source Credit: Belfast Telegraph

China has condemned Barack Obama for "gross interference" in its affairs after 
the US President met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at 
the White House for the second time in his presidency.
The unusually strong reaction from Beijing threatened to cool relations, just as 
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flies to the Far East to discuss regional 
security, and as the US struggles to deal with debt substantially funded by 
China.

Mr Obama's 44-minute meeting with the Dalai Lama included discussion of 
human rights in Tibet. The Dalai Lama was in Washington for an 11-day 
Buddhist festival. The Communist regime in Beijing had already been angered 
by his meetings with other senior US political figures.

"Such an act has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, hurt the feelings 
of the Chinese people and damaged Sino-American relations," the Chinese 
foreign ministry said.


Saturday, July 16, 2011

Designer turns NHL locker room into Dalai Lama's lounge

Leigh Paterson, Producer, CTV Washington
WASHINGTON — Crowded on the Capitol steps, a family of women in brightly colored Tibetan robes stand on tip-toe and use each others' shoulders for leverage, straining to catch a glimpse of the man on stage.
"You can disagree on someone's viewpoint or philosophy," the Dalai Lama said. "But you must still respect that person as an individual."
Thousands of others from all over the world gathered on the West Lawn, under the sweltering sun, to hear His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, speak about world peace. In his signature slow, deliberate way he emphasized the importance of a "calm mind," "compassionate heart," and "inner beauty."
And while His Holiness addressed the masses, touching on everything from marriage advice to violence in the 21st century, Canadian designer Kevin Fitzsimons was working behind the scenes nearby.
"This is the NHL players' locker room. This is what I was given for His Holiness's residences," Fitzsimons said as he pointed to a "before" photo of the cement-grey room. "So I had to do a living room, dining room, a room for his monks, a bathroom. He eats here, rests here, has private meetings here."
The Dalai Lama was in Washington to perform an important Buddhist ritual, a complex 10-day ceremony called the Kalachakra, most of which takes place at the Verizon Center, an arena usually used for hockey games and rock concerts. Fitzsimons, charged with transforming the space into His Holiness's private daytime quarters, had just 30 hours to do the job.
"We put in walls, crown molding, lights, wainscoting, carpet," he said. "We put in everything you can imagine."
After meeting His Holiness in Toronto 30 years ago, Fitzsimons became a practicing Buddhist. Between trips to Asia and design projects in Toronto, he now donates much of his time and money to feed monks and nuns in Nepal.
"We have so much wealth in the Western world that I think its part of our responsibility to take care of others. You don't need two or three cars…Buddha says you don't need material wealth to be happy," he said.
Fitzsimons also did the interior design for the ongoing renovation of the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre, a project the Canadian government has helped finance.
These projects, Fitzsimons explained, are not just professional achievements.
"If I can help with his peace, when he's talking to 20,000 people a day, and coming here and having a nice lunch, having a rest, that's pretty great, for me as a gift to give to him."
And, as the Dalai Lama said in his Talk for World Peace, comfort is essential. "Try to create a calm mind, peaceful mind," he said. "And that creates it within our own family, in our own community. That's the way to change our society."
Source Credit: CTV.CA

China opposes Dalai Lama’s meeting with Obama

Beijing, July 16 (IBNS) China expressed dissatisfaction at spiritual leader The Dalai Lama’s meeting with US PresidentBarack Obama on Saturday saying it may affect relations between the two countries.

"We firmly oppose any foreign official to meet with the Dalai Lama in any form," said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei in a statement.

Obama is scheduled to meet The Dalai Lama at White House in Washington on Saturday.

Earlier also, China denounced Dalai Lama’s meeting with Speaker John Boehner, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers of the House of Representatives of the US Congress on July 7.

“Tibet-related issues are purely China's internal affairs. China firmly opposes any country or any person's interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of Tibet-related issues,” Lei said.

 “Dalai's words and deeds over the past decades demonstrate that he is not a pure religious figure, but rather a political exile long engaged in splittist activities under the religious cloak. China urges relevant US lawmakers to stop condoning and supporting anti-China separatist activities of the Dalai clique,” said Lei.

Dalai Lama inherited control over a government controlling an area roughly corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent People's Republic of China wished to reassert central control over it. There is a dispute over whether the respective governments reached an agreement for a joint Communist-Lamaist administration.

During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, which China regards as an uprising of feudal landlords, the Dalai Lama, who regards the uprising as an expression of widespread discontent, fled to India, where he denounced the People's Republic and established a Tibetan government in exile. 


Source Credit: Washington Bangla Radio USA

Friday, July 15, 2011

Dalai Lama in Chicago this weekend to speak on interfaith cooperation

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the troubled nation of Tibet, is returning to Chicago this weekend to speak on interfaith cooperation.

The Buddhist monk began is most recent tour on July 6 in Washington, D.C., where he celebrated his 76th birthday. While in the capital, he performed a Buddhist ritual called the Kalachakra Empowerment — or “Turning of the Wheel of Time” — dedicated to creating world peace and harmony.
In Chicago, he is scheduled to speak about interfaith cooperation at the invitation of the Wheaton-based Theosophical Society in America. The first speaking event is Sunday at the UIC Pavilion. The next morning, the Dalai Lama will participate in a panel discussion with other religious leaders at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park.

The Tibetan leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner made his last public appearance here in 2007.

To those who have heard the Dalai Lama speak, they say it seems as though he’s having a private conversation with each member of the audience.

Earlier this year, the Dalai Lama, whose name is Tenzin Gyatso, announced he was stepping down as Tibet’s political leader.

Lobsang Sangay, 43, a Harvard University legal scholar, has been elected to lead Tibet's exiled government, which has been headquartered in northern India since the 1950s following China'sinvasion. The Dalai Lama will remain the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.

Lobsang Nyandak, the Dalai Lama’s representative to the Americas, said the Dalai Lama stepping down as a political leader will allow him time to concentrate on people and teaching the values of compassion and peace.

“This will give him, I think, more time and energy to focus,” Nyandak said.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

USAID to give $2mn to support Tibetan settlements

Source Credit: The Economic Times
WASHINGTON: US soon will announce another $ 2 mn to support Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan, a Obama Administration official has said. 

"At the end of this month, the US Agency for International Development's India Mission will issue an award for a new $2 million, two-year programme to support Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal, and Bhutan," Maria Otero Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs said. 

The new programme will support the development of organic agriculture for selected Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan and provide vocational training to Tibetan youth remaining in the settlements, she said. 

"USAID anticipates the programme will result in increased economic opportunities which will encourage youth to remain in the settlements, strengthen community ties, and preserve cultural and linguistic traditions," Otero said yesterday at the Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) Roundtable on "The Dalai Lama: What He Means For Tibetans Today". 

Strengthening Tibetan communities and preserving their extraordinary cultural and religious traditions have been at the center of the Dalai Lama's work, she said. 

Obama Administration's point man for Tibetan issues, said despite many challenges, the US is committed to continuing its long-standing support for non-governmental organisations that work in ethnic Tibetan areas and assist Tibetan refugees in South Asia. 

Both the State Department and the US Agency for International Development support cultural and linguistic preservation, sustainable development and environmental preservation in Tibet and Tibetan majority areas, as well as Tibetan refugee communities in other countries, through numerous programmes. 

"In addition, the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration continues its long-standing support for Tibetan refugees through ongoing support to non- governmental organisations as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," she said. 

In fiscal year 2010, USD 3.5 million was provided to support reception services, education, healthcare, and water and sanitation for Tibetan refugees in South Asia, including new arrivals from China, Otero said.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Even after resignation, Dali Lama is central to Tibetans' dreams Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/13/2313258/even-after-resignation-dali-lama.html#ixzz1S2TmyDFg

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Ngawang Sangdrol was jailed and tortured when she was 14 years old for staging a protest in Lhasa for Tibet's freedom. She said during the worst of her 11 years in prison - when she suffered in solitary confinement from fear, hunger and the cold - she imagined the Dalai Lama at the top of her head.
"This was the only thing that gave me some strength to live," said Sangdrol, who now lives in Boston.
The Dalai Lama renounced his political authority as head of the Tibetan government in exile in March; however, he retains a powerful influence on the Tibetan people that isn't likely to diminish despite his reduced political role, panelists at a congressional roundtable on Tibet concluded Wednesday.
When the Dalai Lama stepped down, he cited his belief in democracy and in the separation of religion and government. He also said he would focus on spiritual matters. In May, Tibetans around the world elected a new Prime Minister, Lobsang Sangay, a former fellow at Harvard Law School, to head the government in exile currently located in India. Tibet has been under China's rule since 1951.
Bhuchung Tsering, vice president of the International Campaign for Tibet, said the centuries-old historical bond between the Dalai Lama and Tibetans wouldn't change. He cited the protests against Chinese rule that erupted in 2008.
"One of the words we heard there was a reference to His Holiness," Tsering said. "That will continue even now and into the future."
Still, the elected government, Tsering said, would have to assume more responsibility, and not be seen as relying on the Dalai Lama. Sangay "will have to mold himself to be the Tibetan political leader, separate from the Dalai Lama."
Moreover, Tibetans in exile will have to adapt to this new political reality and learn to see elected officials as their political leaders.
Sangdrol also said peaceful protests with truth as their central tenet - in line with the Dalai Lama's teaching - would continue to inspire Tibetans.
The Chinese government named its own successor to the Dalai Lama in 1995, making the Dalai Lama's resignation a challenge to their aim of installing future Lamas and securing control over Tibet, which had major uprisings in 2008. The Chinese government and the Tibetan government in exile have not had talks since January of 2010.
Tsering said he was hopeful, however, as there is common ground: Both governments are working on a solution for Tibet within the Chinese constitution.
According to Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the Asia Society, Sangay is "deeply committed" to dialogue between China and Tibet. Metzl went to Harvard Law School with Sangay and currently works with him through the Asia Society's program for young leaders.
The Chinese government has said in its newspapers that "no matter who heads the exiled Tibetan government, its illegal nature will not be altered." Chinese officials in Tibet called the Dali Lama's resignation a farce.
The erosion of Tibetan religion, culture and language is getting worse, said Arjia Rinpoche, director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. Rinpoche hoped foreign governments like the United States would continue pressuring the Chinese government to talk to the newly elected Tibetan government in exile.
Borders or other political issues aren't important to Rinpoche, but dialogue, he said, has the potential to save the disappearing culture. Tibetans are educated in Chinese rather than Tibetan, and the Chinese tightly control religion.
"Tibetans really want their own language in Tibet," Rinpoche said. "If there's a dialogue, the Tibetan exiled government always says we need genuine autonomy so they can use their own language and get an education and jobs."
The Obama administration remains "extremely concerned" about the deterioration of human rights in China and Tibet, said Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs Mario Otero.
Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who chaired Wednesday's session of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said the Dalai Lama remains the best hope for restoring stability and autonomy to Tibet. He called the attack on Tibetan culture as well as the human rights abuses against Tibetans "harsh and brutal."
The commission has a political prisoner database listing hundreds of Tibetans jailed by the Chinese government.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/13/2313258/even-after-resignation-dali-lama.html#ixzz1S2U0UTCl

Sunday, July 10, 2011

China demands U.S. Congress people to stop supporting Dalai Lama

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday demanded that some people with the U.S. Congress stop indulging and supporting the Dalai Lama group in anti-China and separatist activities.
"The Tibetan affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and China firmly opposes any country or any person to interfere in China's internal affairs on the Tibetan issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in response to a journalist's question.
The words and actions of the Dalai Lama during the past decades have proven that he is not simply a religious person, but a political exile who has been engaged in separatist activities against China under the disguise of religion, Hong said.
According to media reports, John Boehner, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and several U.S. congress people met with the Dalai Lama in his current U.S. visit.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Congressional Leaders Meet Dalai Lama in US Capitol


The Dalai Lama makes remarks on Capitol Hill  July 7, 2011, as he is welcomed by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California
Photo: AP
The Dalai Lama makes remarks on Capitol Hill July 7, 2011, as he is welcomed by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California
The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met Thursday with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the U.S. Capitol.  The Dalai Lama said it was his "duty" to meet with his "old friends" and explain why he voluntarily handed over political power earlier this year.

The Dalai Lama met with several U.S. lawmakers Thursday in his first visit to the United States since he retired as the political leader of the Tibetan government in exile.  He was warmly welcomed by Democrats and Republicans.

House Speaker John Boehner was visibly moved, saying that America has long had a strong bond with the Dalai Lama.

"Wherever he goes, the Dalai Lama makes his tireless dedication to the values that we all cherish.  He makes them apparent and he make it a bit contagious," Boehner said.

House Minority Leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi has long been a strong supporter of the religious, cultural and spiritual rights of the Tibetan people.

"I am very proud of the fact that we have come together under the dome of the Capitol a number of times to honor His Holiness," Pelosi said.

The Dalai Lama was forced into exile after a failed uprising of the Tibetan people against the Chinese government in 1959.  China accuses the Dalai Lama of advocating Tibet's succession from China.  But the Dalai Lama has said for decades that he advocates political autonomy for Tibet, not independence from China.  China had warned the United States against holding official meetings with the Tibetan spiritual leader.  A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday that China is against any foreign governments encouraging activities aimed at "splitting the motherland."

Representative Pelosi recalled that many U.S. presidents have had close ties with the Dalai Lama.

"When he was a very little boy and first became the Dalai Lama, President Franklin Roosevelt sent him a watch.  Recognizing his love, even as a little boy for science and technology, it was a watch that had the phases of the moon," Pelosi said.

The Dalai Lama said he wants to explain to U.S. lawmakers why he stepped down from political leadership of the Tibetan government in exile.

"I believe the country ruled by kings or queens or religious leader - they are out of date and, in fact, religious institutions and political institutions must be separate," the Dalai Lama said.

He said he felt that the time was right to step down because members of the Tibetan community were ready to step up and lead.

"So now, our small organization in exile community is a fully democratic institution. So we really feel very, very proud," he said.

Some Republican lawmakers have criticized President Barack Obama for not setting up a meeting with the Dalai Lama during this visit.  The Tibetan spiritual leader is in Washington for 11 days as part of a meditation ritual.  Last year, a low-key meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama at the White House angered the Chinese government.  Analysts say the president might hold a quiet ceremonial meeting with the Dalai Lama before he leaves.
Credit: VOA