The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, is planning to visit Japan in April and the Japanese government is expected to allow his stay, sources close to the matter said Sunday.
Japan’s planned permission for the Dalai Lama’s visit is highly likely to draw opposition from China and further strain bilateral relations.
The Japanese government issued a visa last Tuesday to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui for a personal trip despite a strong protest from China, which considers the island to be a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Japan-China relations have also been strained over repeated visits by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which Beijing regards as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Dubbing him a “separatist,” China has been hostile toward the Dalai Lama as he is seen as the spiritual symbol for those seeking Tibetan independence from China.
But the Japanese government is expected to permit his stay on condition that he refrains from undertaking any political activities, the sources said.
At the invitation of a religious group, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to arrive at Narita airport outside Tokyo on April 8 and deliver presentations in Tokyo, Kumamoto and Ishikawa prefectures before leaving Japan on April 19, according to the sources.
Excluding his stopovers for transit, the Dalai Lama last visited Japan in the fall of 2003, in response to an invitation from a group of Japanese lawmakers on Tibet-related issues.
China has been sensitive about his visits to Japan particularly since August 2001 when the Dalai Lama sent a personal letter to Koizumi through a senior Japanese government official, the sources said.
China issued a strong protest in November 2002 when a then senior vice minister of Japan’s Cabinet Office held talks with the Dalai Lama during a stopover.
At a foreign ministerial meeting in April 2003, China officially demanded that Japan refuse to allow the Dalai Lama to visit.
