Dalai Lama seeks to quell China's anger

Aides to the Dalai Lama translate a reporter's question for Tibet's spiritual leader during a news conference in Taipei on Saturday

In this story: Political implications Religion first RELATED STORIES

By staff and wire reports

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called on China to send a representative to Taiwan to determine whether he is stirring up trouble for Beijing.

The Dalai Lama made the comment at the start of a 10-day visit to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has described his visit as a spiritual mission.

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However planned meetings with President Chen Shui Bian and former President Lee Teng Hui have led Beijing to accuse the Dalai Lama of dabbling in politics and seeking to build an alliance with Taiwan to push for independence from the mainland.

"I want someone from Beijing to come here while I'm here and watch my movements here and investigate whether I'm involved in anti-Chinese activities," the exiled spiritual leader told a news conference Saturday.

He went on to offer praise for Chen's handling of relations with the mainland saying the Taiwanese leader had dealt with Beijing "wisely" and "realistically."

The visit is the second time the Dalai Lama has traveled to Taiwan. His first trip, which took place in 1997, drew fierce protest from China.

This visit has also been fiercely criticized by China's state-run media, who say the trip is evidence that independence forces in Tibet and Taiwan are ganging up against China.

Political implications

The Dalai Lama has tried to play down the political significance of his visit, but Taipei-based Andrew Yang of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies says the meeting of Taiwan pro-independence leaders "is bound to have some political implications".

"Although the Dalai Lama has reiterated it is a religious visit, it does show that he is in close ties with the incumbent Taiwan government which China dislikes," he told CNN.com.

Taiwanese men protest the Dalai Lama's visit in Taipei

Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu has admitted that the island's relations with China are entering a "sensitive period" as a result of the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit.

For Beijing's part, Sun Yafu, deputy director of the Chinese cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, warned that the Taiwan authorities "will have to take responsibility for the serious after-effects resulting from agreeing to the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan".

CNN.com senior China analyst Willy Lam says Beijing views the Dalai Lama's visit as further proof of the existence of a global anti-China conspiracy between the pro-independence movements in Taiwan and Tibet, the Falun Gong, and so-called anti-China elements in the United States.

Religion first

During his visit the Dalai Lama will hold mass "enlightenment" lectures across Taiwan.

Buddhist monks lead a procession to welcome the Dalai Lama to Taipei

Wealthy but diplomatically isolated Taiwan has about 30,000 followers of Tibetan Buddhism. During his last visit they showered the Dalai Lama with some $500,000 in donations.

"For ordinary people, the Dalai Lama's visit has greater religious significance than political," says Hsu Szu-chien, a China policy adviser to President Chen's Democratic Progressive Party.

The Tibetan leader met with former Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui during his first visit to Taiwan in 1997.

A second trip planned for 1998 was called off due to strong opposition from Beijing.

He also turned down an invitation to Chen's inauguration on May 20 apparently to avoid causing trouble during the sensitive transition.

The Dalai Lama fled his Himalayan homeland after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three decades later for his peaceful campaign for Tibetan autonomy.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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China raps Dalai Lama's Taiwan trip
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A tale of two Tibets
October 10. 1997
Taiwan silent on expected meetings with Dalai Lama
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Exiled Tibetans sustain culture from afar
December 7, 1996

Dalai Lama
Tibetan Government in Exile
Government Information Office, Taiwan

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