SYDNEY, Australia, June 11: Pro-Tibetan activists urged Prime Minister John Howard to meet with the Dalai Lama during a visit to Australia’s capital this week, despite China’s warning that Australian leaders should not engage the exiled Tibetan leader.
Howard has repeatedly refused to say whether he will receive the Dalai Lama during the Buddhist leader’s visit to Canberra this week, saying only that he was checking his diary.
“We understand that the prime minister may have been delaying an announcement in order to reduce criticism from the Chinese government,” said George Farley, chairman of the Australian Tibet Council. “But … it’s beginning to look as if Mr. Howard is actively avoiding a meeting.”
The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 following a failed uprising, is one of the figures most reviled by China’s Community Party, which has accused him of waging a clandestine campaign for formal independence.
The Buddhist leader denies he is trying to foment rebellion, saying he only wants Beijing to grant Tibet genuine autonomy in hopes of preserving the region’s culture.
Last month, China’s foreign ministry issued a warning to Australian leaders against engaging the exiled leader, saying he was “not a purely religious figure.”
“He’s a political exile engaged in activities aimed at splitting China,” added Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman.
The 71-year-old Nobel Peace Prize Winner has said he understands why political leaders are reluctant to jeopardize their lucrative trade relations with China by meeting with him, and that it does not concern him.
“My main interest is meeting with the public because my main concern is promotion of human values and promotion of religious harmony,” the Dalai Lama said Sunday during one of his many public appearances across Australia.
China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially an independent state for most of that time. Chinese communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951 and Beijing continues to rule the region with a heavy hand. It regularly expresses displeasure when foreign leaders meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits their home countries.
