Ottawa — Canada is in a strong position to influence China on human rights and Tibetan independence because it has a good relationship with Beijing, the Dalai Lama said Thursday.
One day before a historic meeting with Prime Minister Paul Martin, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader insisted that politics isn’t as important to him as human and religious freedoms.
But he continues to work for Tibetan autonomy from China and says Canada could help.
“Canada has good relations with China,” the Dalai Lama, wearing his trademark saffron robes, told a packed news conference one day after arriving in Ottawa.
“Canada is not threat to China so therefore, I think Canada is better positioned to influence our Chinese brothers and sisters.”
That means China will be “less suspicious” of Canada’s motives in raising such issues, he added.
Mr. Martin will be the first sitting prime minister to meet the Dalai Lama despite loud protests from Beijing calling the Nobel Prize winner a separatist bent on dividing China.
Officials with the Prime Minister’s Office have tried to placate Beijing by insisting the meeting will be strictly on spiritual issues rather than political.
And to drive home that point, the get-together late Friday afternoon will be held at the home of Rev. Marcel Gervais, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ottawa and include other civic and spiritual leaders.
The Dalai Lama, one-third of the way through his 19-day Canadian tour, said he won’t raise political issues but will leave it to the prime minister to set the tone of their meeting.
“My visit, generally speaking (is) non-political,” focusing instead on educating people about the importance of freedoms of religion and speech.
However, it is also his duty to explain the Tibetan situation and that country’s relationship with China, he added.
“So that part, maybe (has) some political implication,” the Dalai Lama said in remarks frequently punctuated by self-deprecating jokes and his distinctive giggle.
The 68-year-old Buddhist monk has lived much of his life in exile.
Tibet was occupied by Chinese troops in 1951, and in 1959 the Dalai Lama fled after a failed uprising.
He set up a Tibetan government in exile in India, and from there he has lobbied not for Tibetan independence but rather to become an autonomous region with cultural and religious independence.
The Dalai Lama, who rubs shoulders with Hollywood stars, Nobel laureates, and Buddhist acolytes alike, brushed off suggestions he is seeking total independence from China.
And he dismissed comparisons made by the Chinese government of his cause with Quebec’s aspirations for independence.
As part of Beijing’s efforts to dissuade Mr. Martin from meeting the Dalai Lama, it suggested Canada’s experience with Quebec’s independence movement should make Ottawa more sensitive about encouraging separatists.
Globalization has made borders irrelevant anywhere in the world, said the Dalai Lama.
“We are not seeking separation, we are not seeking independence,” he said.
“I believe the world is becoming smaller, in (the) economy field, in the environment field, our national boundaries are not important.”
If Beijing permits Tibet autonomy of culture and religion, Tibetans could see great benefits from being a part of China, he added.
And times are changing in communist China.
The massive nation’s cautious move towards free markets is creating greater demands for other kinds of freedom by the people, he said.
The Dalai Lama’s teachings and message are reaching ordinary Chinese people via the Internet, leading some scholars and think-tanks to voice support for his message, he said.
“Today’s China, compared with 10 years ago, 20 years ago, is much changed . . . but change must come smoothly, peacefully,” said the Dalai Lama.
“So my approach is actually helping China to a smooth transition.”
