- The Times
- 4:37PM June 19, 2024
A US congressional delegation including Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, has visited the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, prompting criticism from China.
Michael McCaul , the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee, and Ms Pelosi, visited the 88-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader at his home base in the northern Indian hill-town of Dharamsala.
Ms Pelosi told crowds of Tibetans it was an “honour” to have met with the Dali Lama, in a speech carried by the government-in-exile’s Tibet TV. “It is truly a blessing”, she said.
Last week the US congress passed a bill rejecting China’s claim that its rule over Tibet dates back to ancient times and demanding that Beijing resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama. No talks have taken place since 2010, when a series of negotiations that had begun eight years earlier broke down.
“This bill is a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and understanding in the issue of the freedom of Tibet”, Ms Pelosi said.
Ms Pelosi said the bill was “soon to be signed” by US President Joe Biden.
Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said that the US was “sending the wrong message to the outside world” with the visit and the bill, which will become US law when the President signs it. “It is well known that the 14th Dalai Lama is not merely a religious figure but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the guise of religion,” he said.
Ms Pelosi, 84, a Democrat who was speaker of the House until the Republican congressional victory in 2022, is a bete noire for the regime in Beijing. Earlier that year she led a delegation to Taiwan, pushing China’s relations with the US to their lowest point in years.
Although Tibetan independence is a red line for Beijing, the role of the Dalai Lama is slightly less sensitive. Ms Pelosi previously visited him in Dharamshala in 2017. Republican Donald Trump improved relations with China by becoming the first president not to meet him for 30 years. Mr Biden has not met him, but will have the opportunity when the Dalai Lama travels to the US for hospital treatment on his knees this week.
THE TIMES
theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/pelosi-pokes-the-beijing-bear-by-paying-homage-to-dalai-lama/news-story/3ef2ec9bc809e37d7409cb7ff4ff4f6e
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on June 19, 2024
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