With just over a week until the Dalai Lama arrives in Canada for a visit, Prime Minister Paul Martin still hasn’t decided whether he’ll meet the exiled leader of Tibet’s Buddhists.
The Chinese government would prefer that Canada not even allow him in the country.
Chinese Embassy officials have said: “The Dalai Lama is neither a political figure nor a religious figure. He’s just somebody involved in separating China.”
Canada does $20 billion per year in trade with China. There are fears that relationship could be threatened if Canada is too officially welcoming towards the Dalai Lama.
No Canadian prime minister has ever met with him.
To Tibetans, their revered leader — who currently lives in exile in northern India, having fled Tibet in 1959 — represents hope for the restoration of nationhood crushed by Chinese troops who invaded and annexed Tibet in 1951.
Since then China has outlawed the Buddhist religion and imprisoned hundreds of monks.
The Dalai Lama’s Canadian supporters have collected signatures from 161 members of Parliament including Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, calling on the prime minister to play an active role in getting China and the Dalai Lama to negotiate the future of Tibet.
“Unless the prime minister is really arrogant, I can’t believe he’ll brush aside the views of 161 MPs,” said Thubten Samdup of the Canada-Tibet Committee.
“This is a decision the prime minister will have to make,” is all Cotler would say.
“Obviously there is a tremendous amount of interest in this and we are looking at the logistics,” Martin said.
The Dalai Lama arrives in Canada on April 19 and has scheduled visits to Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto before he leaves again May 5.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell has agreed to meet the Nobel Peace Prize winner in B.C.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair received the Dalai Lama in 1999 — as a spiritual leader. U.S. President George Bush met with him last year.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, refused to meet with him after China expressed its displeasure at the possibility.
With a report from CTV’s Craig Oliver
