US Delegation, Pelosi Meets Dalai Lama, Criticizes Xi Jinping; Beijing Angered
New Delhi: A high-level US congressional delegation, including the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, met with the Dalai Lama at his home in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, on Wednesday in a visit that infuriated Beijing, more so because Ms Pelosi severely criticised Chinese President Xi Jinping.
According to media reports, the delegation led by Republican chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs Michael McCaul arrived earlier on Tuesday. The trip comes days after the US Congress passed a bill with bipartisan support that urged China to start dialogue with Tibetan leaders to find a solution to the longstanding conflict.
Ms Pelosi was quoted by media reports saying, “The Dalai Lama will live a long time and his legacy will live forever, but you, the President (Mr Xi), will be gone and nobody will give you credit for anything... The Dalai Lama will not approve of my saying this...that I am criticising the Chinese government… But I hope he will indulge me today in saying change is on the way. As our colleagues have said, hope brings some faith and the faith of the Tibetan people, in the goodness of others, is going to make all the difference...”
Ms Pelosi also reportedly said that bipartisan approval for the Resolve Tibet Act sends a message to China that Washington is clear in its thinking on this issue.
“This bill says to the Chinese government -- things have changed now, get ready for that,” she was quoted as saying to cheering Tibetans at an event on Wednesday afternoon.
According to media reports, the Resolve Tibet Act, which will put pressure on China to resume negotiations frozen for 14 years with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders, now only needs President Joe Biden’s signature to become law. Reports from Beijing claim that Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian has urged the US President not to sign the bipartisan Tibet Policy Bill adopted by both the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
At a public function on Wednesday after the meeting with the Dalai Lama, Mr McCaul reportedly said that the Chinese officials had sent the delegation a letter “warning us not to come to Dharamsala”. He said the United States stands with Tibet in what he called its right to self-determination.
“America, the beautiful, will support Tibet to remain a powerful force as always,” he was quoted by the media.
It may be noted that historically, the Dalai Lama, regarded for centuries as the supreme Tibetan spiritual leader, has always been chosen through a procedure rooted in the belief of reincarnation. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935 in Tibet and recognised as the 14th Dalai Lama, had fled to India as a young man way back in 1959 following a failed revolt in Tibet against Chinese rule.
Based in Dharamsala, in Himachal Pradesh, his current health has reportedly been a cause for concern. It is due to this that the selection of the next Dalai Lama eventually is being seen as a potential flashpoint between Beijing and the current Dalai Lama’s exiled followers in India, who had formed the Central Tibetan Administration, popularly known as the Tibetan government-in-exile based out of Dharamsala decades ago.
Attacking the Dalai Lama, Beijing, which refers to Tibet by the Chinese name Xizang, had earlier on Tuesday said, “It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion. We urge the US side to fully recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honour the commitments the US has made to China on issues related to Xizang and stop sending the wrong signal to the world... Xizang’s affairs are purely China’s domestic affairs and no external interference will ever be allowed... China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests."
