The Dalai Lama has arrived in Japan on his way to the United States, amid protests around the world over China’s handling of unrest in his native Tibet.
The exiled spiritual leader arrived at Tokyo’s main international airport and was quickly escorted to a nearby hotel. He planned a news conference later Thursday before traveling on to Seattle for a six-day visit.
Chinese authorities, concerned about unrest ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, have tightly restricted access to Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China where protests also broke out. The sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations were the largest among Tibetans in almost two decades.
The Dalai Lama, whom Beijing claims has fomented the unrest, has called for calm, but the protests have shown little sign of abating.
Japan’s government has been relatively quiet about the violence in Tibet and, out of deference to Beijing, does not deal officially with the Dalai Lama.
Tokyo does, however, grant him visas and he has visited Japan fairly frequently.
No meetings were planned between the Dalai Lama and government officials although Japanese media said the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would meet with him. Neither Abe’s office nor the Dalai Lama’s liaison office in Tokyo could confirm the reports.
The Dalai Lama has been living in India since 1959.
