Dharamsala, November 18: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key reportedly said on Wednesday that he would not meet the Dalai Lama when he visits the country early next month.
“The reason simply is I’ve decided that I wouldn’t get a lot out of that particular meeting. I don’t see every religious leader that comes to town. I’ve seen him in the past, I may see him in the future,” Key told reporters in Wellington.
The decision goes against Mr Key’s previous statements that he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader if his diary permitted, but he denied it had been made after pressure from China.
Media reports say key had told President Hu Jintao he would not be meeting the Dalai Lama on this occasion.
“We would understand the way the Chinese would deal with these things, but on the other side of the coin that wasn’t the over-riding factor. There are a number of factors involved,” NZPA quoted Mr Key as saying.
Mr Key also did not expect any government ministers to meet the Dalai Lama, but said some National Party representatives might.
The Dalai Lama is due to visit New Zealand on December 5 and 6, and meeting the Dalai Lama usually draws vehement protests from China.
Mr Key, however, reportedly said he did not believe it would be seen as kowtowing to the Chinese, as President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had also decided not to meet the Dalai Lama.
The Green Party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, said Mr Key’s decision sent the wrong signal to the Chinese government.
“It is just giving China a signal that we’re not serious about helping the Tibetan people in their hour of need,” Mr Locke told NZPA.
“It contrasts greatly with John Key’s position in opposition, when he did meet the Dalai Lama.
“Now he is in government and has some power and ability to influence the situation, he’s backing off.”
Mr Locke said it seemed Mr Key had even boasted to Chinese leaders that he would not be meeting the Dalai Lama.
“That just gives them a free hit against the Tibetan people,” Locke added.
When the Dalai Lama was last in New Zealand in 2007, Key was leader of the opposition and “dropped in” on a meeting between the Tibetan leader and his National Party foreign affairs spokesman, now minister, Murray McCully.
A spokesman for the trust organising the Dalai Lama’s programme, reportedly said there could only be one reason for Key’s decision, “and that reason is China’s political and economic influence in New Zealand either directly or indirectly”.
“The issue of human rights abuses in Tibet by China no longer concerns New Zealand governments,” said Neil Cameron, of the Dalai Lama Visit Trust New Zealand in a statement.
Cameron called Key’s decision disappointing but not surprising. “We have entered a period of time when China wields significant influence over the economies and internal policies of many nations around the world and New Zealand is no exception.
“The prime minister may or may not have been pressured by Chinese officials or agencies over the visit but direct and vocal pressure would have been applied if the invitation had been accepted.”
Cameron said Phil Goff, leader of the opposition Labour Party, had accepted an invitation to meet the Dalai Lama, who is scheduled to speak in Auckland on December 6.
When the Dalai Lama was last in New Zealand in 2007, then-prime minister Helen Clark declined to meet him on the grounds she had spoken to him for 10 minutes during a chance encounter at Brisbane airport.
Winston Peters, foreign affairs minister at the time, met the Dalai Lama in Wellington, but made clear it was in his capacity as NZ First leader.
The coy engagements came after a diplomatic furore across the Tasman, where the Dalai Lama’s meetings with Australian politicians brought angry protests from China.
New Zealand was in free trade talks with China at the time.
