Fury over Dalai Lama visit

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1044377 [headline] => Fury over Dalai Lama visit [abstract] => An unofficial delegation of Australian MPs has met the Dalai Lama in the Indian town of Dharamshala, drawing criticism from China's diplomats in Canberra.
[keywords] => Dalai Lama, delegation, Australia [content] =>

It's a first, and it's already causing controversy. An unofficial delegation of Australian MPs has met the Dalai Lama in the Indian town of Dharamshala, drawing criticism from China's diplomats in Canberra.

The historic meeting is the first time a group of Australian politicians have met Tibet's spiritual leader and already it's raising eyebrows among the Chinese.

These parliamentarians don't always agree in the chamber, but on this trip they are seeing eye to eye.

They are in Dharamshala on "unofficial" business, a private visit to meet Tibet's Spiritual Leader and soak up his words.

The Dalai Lama told them of his concerns over lack of freedom of speech in China.

"No freedom of speech, no freedom of press, people put in darkness - immoral, I really think," the Dalai Lama said.

The six Members of Parliament are sponsored by the Australian Tibet Council and hope to travel to Tibet, during an official visit to China later this year.

"If the parliament asks the Chinese government to allow this group to go, I don't see why they shouldn't be, they would be breaking their word and I am sure the Chinese government wouldn't like to be seen to be doing that," Labor MP Michael Dandy told SBS.

The delegation says it supports the Dalai Lama's middle way approach of autonomy, rather than Independence for Tibet.

"We have a responsibility to stand up for their freedom, we have a responsibility for their rights to be protected," Australian Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said.

But even before the delegation left Australia, the meeting was already creating diplomatic waves.

The Chinese Embassy in Canberra had warned earlier this month that the trip would not go down well, saying "We firmly oppose any interference by outside forces to support the separatist activities of the Dalai clique."

DFAT officials today confirmed the Chinese have since made representations to the federal government over the meeting.

It's a response that jars with comments made by former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who cautioned Australia for taking a defensive stance against Asia's superpower.

But the federal government says it’s standing by its "One-China policy" - which recognises Tibet as a part of China.

Mr Keating says much of the government's recent defence white paper appeared to cast China in the role of an aggressor.

"The paper failed to spell out whether it was something we should regard as a threat and for which we should plan," Mr Keating said.

He says too often, Australia had created problems for itself when its defence policy got ahead of its foreign policy.

"We must be alert, dextrous and positive, never defensive".

"As Australia's economy ties with China grow, issues such as Tibet and China's record on human rights are bound to be either ignored or compromised," he said.
 
 

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The Dalai Lama has accused China of "acting like a child" in cracking down on Tibetans and other minorities, saying it lacked the moral authority of a genuine superpower.

The Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters in Japan on Wednesday that while China could boast military, economic and population muscle, it feared even small signs of dissent.

Addressing a Tokyo news conference on a stopover before a speaking tour of Europe and the United States, he said he saw China, "such a big nation, acting like a child".

He said the government routinely arrested individuals with different views, but stressed that "such a big nation of over one billion people (should have) no need for such sort of fear."

"One or two persons have different views, and immediately they are in trouble with the government. No. You're a big nation. You should have more self-confidence."

He said he believed that while Tibetans were poor but had openness on their side, "one weakness of the Chinese government is that it is not transparent, always telling distorted information."

The Tibetan leader said China was on the path to becoming a superpower and already had the "power of population, power of military and power of economy."

"Now the fourth condition to becoming a superpower is moral authority," he said. "That is lacking. Moral authority is very, very essential. Trust is key. State secrets destroy trust. That is the greatest obstacle to authority."

The Dalai Lama was speaking 50 years after arriving in Indian exile after fleeing China's crackdown against a 1959 uprising in the Himalayan territory, and more than a year after forces again cracked down on protesters.

Fierce anti-China riots broke out in Lhasa in March last year and spread across Tibet and adjacent areas with Tibetan populations, deeply embarrassing the Chinese government as it prepared to host the Beijing Summer Olympics.

Tibetan activist groups say thousands of people may have been arrested in the crackdown, and the exiled Tibetan government has said more than 200 were killed.

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