Taipei's Dalai Lama invite blasted

• Source: Global Times
• [01:25 August 28 2009]
• Comments

Ma's office declined to comment if Ma would meet with the Dalai Lama on his visit, AFP reported.

An aide to the Dalai Lama in the Indian town of Dharamsala said the Dalai Lama had been keen to visit Taiwan, according to Reuters.

Hu Shisheng, an expert on the Tibet issue at the Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that it is so sly for the Democratic Progressive Party to use the disaster relief as a chance to profit in its political interests.

“The DPP wants to use this opportunity to gain the people, and Ma dare not say no to the invitation of the Dalai Lama, since he and his Kuomintang were strongly accused of ineffective disaster relief, so it could be a big political crisis,” Hu said.

Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on August 6, killed 543 people and causing complaints about the Taiwan authorities' slow disaster-relief response.

Hu noted that it is impossible for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan with the pure aim of comforting victims of the disaster, “since the Dalai Lama himself is mixed in with the political factors.”
Xiong Kunxin, an expert on ethnic minority issues at China's Minzu University, echoed Hu and strongly criticized the invitation to the Dalai Lama.

“It's risky for the DPP to invite the Dalai Lama to Taiwan, and it isn't the first time, since a large number of people in Taiwan are Buddhists, which has been used by the Dalai Lama to further his propaganda,” Xiong said.

Although Ma realized the unhappiness of the Chinese mainland and set limits on the Dalai Lama's move in Taiwan, “the move may set off a political storm and might hinder cross-strait reconciliation,” Xiong said.

The Dalai Lama made his first visit to Taiwan in 1997 on an invitation from former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui. In 2001, when the Tibetan separatist made his second visit to Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, then leader of Taiwan, held a “secret dialogue” with the Dalai Lama, who said that he would like to send more Tibetans to work in Taiwan.

In the following years, both parties in Taiwan have expressed their intention of arranging a third visit. The “exiled government” refused the invitation to visit Taiwan in 2002, saying that the Dalai Lama was in negotiations with the Chinese government.

Last year, Taiwan rejected the Dalai Lama's proposed third visit, saying it was not the right time.

Liang Chen contributed to this story