By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, April 23 – Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin met the Dalai Lama on Friday and said the two men had discussed human rights in Tibet, a move that is bound to anger China.
Beijing had warned Martin against meeting the Dalai Lama, who has run a government-in-exile in India since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959. China regards the spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist.
Martin, the first sitting Canadian prime minister to meet the Dalai Lama, talked with the Nobel Peace Prize winner for 15 minutes in the presence of Ottawa’s Roman Catholic archbishop.
Although Martin had insisted before the encounter that he would only discuss spiritual affairs, he emerged afterward to reveal the talk had also touched upon Tibet.
“We did discuss human rights. We discussed human rights generally and we discussed human rights in Tibet,” Martin told reporters in brief remarks after the meeting.
Chinese troops imposed Communist rule on Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled nine years later after a failed uprising. China claims Tibet as part of its territory.
The Dalai Lama complained on Thursday that China had denied Tibetans freedom of religion, thought and speech. He also said he felt Canada might be able to help bring Tibet and China together.
“The Dalai Lama talked about the situation in Tibet and gave details about what was happening there,” Martin spokesman Mario Lague told reporters.
“Then he (the prime minister) asked ‘What can we do?’ and the Dalai Lama just said ‘In general, keep talking about human rights because that’s important’. He didn’t make any specific requests,” Lague added.
The Dalai Lama, in Canada for a three-week tour, declined to comment on the meeting, saying only that it had been “very good”.
Around 50 supporters of the Tibetan cause gathered on the street outside, some of them shouting “Three cheers for Paul Martin” and waving banners praising the prime minister.
