By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct. 19: Following the Dalai Lama’s meeting with the Slovakian President Andrej Kiska on Sunday (Oct. 16), China has issued a strong worded response over the informal meeting between the two leaders.
In what is observed by many as a ‘routine bossy clout’ displayed by trade super power China, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying yesterday told the media that Slovak President Kiska is “clinging obstinately to a wrong course” by meeting the Tibetan leader and called the lunch-meet as being a “wrong act”.
Hua mentioned, “The Chinese side is firmly opposed to Dalai’s undertaking of anti-China separatist activities in any country in any capacity. We are also against officials from any country engaging with him in any form.”
Also adding, “The Slovak President undermines China’s core interests and sabotages the political foundation for China-Slovakia relations. China urges the Slovak side to see through the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai clan, respect China’s core interests and major concerns, hold fast to the one-China policy, and take effective measures to remove the fallout of this wrong act so that China-Slovakia relations can resume sound and steady development.”
However, against the backdrop of Party secretary of TAR, Wu Yingjie’s statement earlier this month which vowed that “opposing Dalai Lama” to be their “highest priority”, China and Tibet observers find the development to be along the lines of China doing its ‘due diligence’ in restricting global leaders to meet the Dalai Lama and restcit the Tibetan leader’s influence on the global stage.
The Guardian earlier reported that “Getting other governments to snub the Dalai Lama has been an occupation of Chinese diplomats for the last nine years or so, ever since George W Bush awarded him the Congressional Medal of Honor. That public recognition of the Tibetan spiritual leader seems to have stung the Chinese state into a furious and long-lasting reaction.”
On Tuesday (Oct. 18), Tibetan PM Lobsang Sangay while addressing an event for Tibetan researchers said that some key questions arise regarding the dynamics in global diplomacy when it comes to Tibet. “Why is it that the head of the state of a tiny nation like Slovakia in the face of pressure from China, decided to meet the Dalai Lama and not some larger Asian nations who share religious and cultural affinity with Tibet? They should come forward and help and express solidarity with Tibet,” Sangay said.
The Dalai Lama, currently on a European tour, is in Czech Republic engaging with the common mass and attending public events such as the Forum 2000 panel on ‘The Paradox of Religion’.
