Hank Schouten
Tibet’s spiritual leader in exile, the Dalai Lama, has flown into Wellington surrounded by tight security and diplomatic manoeuvring.
(NZ)June 19: The 71-year-old Buddhist, whose quest for Tibetan autonomy is opposed by the Chinese Government, arrived in the capital last night.
The diplomatic protection squad provided tight security on his arrival and, on its advice, the Wellington Tenths Trust did not give a traditional Maori welcome on the Pipitea Marae but in the James Cook Hotel.
The Dalai Lama was earlier welcomed at Wellington airport by about 100 Buddhists and members of Friends of Tibet. Flanked by six members of the protection squad, he smiled and bowed as he briskly went along the welcoming line.
The Dalai Lama’s fourth visit to New Zealand has been surrounded by political manoeuvring to avoid antagonising the Chinese Government at a time when New Zealand is negotiating a free trade agreement with the communist state.
China’s foreign ministry regularly objects when countries allow the Dalai Lama to visit to push for Tibetan independence.
“The Dalai Lama is not a simple religious figure, he is a political exile engaged in ` `splittist’ activities for a long time,” the ministry’s spokesman said in a recent briefing in Beijing.
Prime Minister Helen Clark sidestepped the issue of whether she should accord him the honour of a formal meeting with a “serendipitous” encounter at an airport lounge in Brisbane last week.
The National Party is also playing the diplomatic game. Its leader, John Key, will “drop in” to a meeting the Dalai Lama is having with the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Murray McCully. Winston Peters is scheduled to meet him, in his capacity as NZ First leader rather than as foreign affairs minister.
In contrast, the Green Party has invited the Dalai Lama to its caucus meeting this morning.
The public can see the Dalai Lama at a talk entitled A human approach to world peace at the TSB Events Centre, Queens Wharf, at 1pm today.
