THE Dalai Lama was awarded a peace prize by the German state of Hesse overnight “for his policy of non-aggression towards China”, the organisers said.
The Dalai Lama received the prize in person on the second day of a three-day visit to Germany.
The president of the foundation which awards the prize, Karl Starzacher, said “more than ever it is now up to the goodwill of Beijing” to start negotiations with Tibet.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and he is seen by the Chinese authorities as a separatist threat.
Previous winners of the Hesse peace prize include the former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
