A high-level US congressional delegation that included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with the Dalai Lama at his Indian home on Wednesday, a visit condemned in advance by the Chinese government, which is in exile Living Tibetan spiritual leaders are viewed as separatists.
The delegation, led by Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, arrived Tuesday in the Himalayan city of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama has lived since the 1960s. The delegation visited the offices of the Tibetan government-in-exile, which advocates for Tibet’s autonomy within China.
The trip comes days after Congress passed legislation with bipartisan support that calls on China to open dialogue with Tibetan leaders to find a solution to the long-running conflict.
China’s criticism of the visit was immediate and not surprising. Its leaders consider the government-in-exile to be illegal and view any support for autonomy for Tibet, which they call Xizang, as interference in internal Chinese affairs.
“We urge the US side to fully recognize the anti-Chinese and separatist character of the Dalai Group, honor the commitments the US has made to China on issues related to Xizang, and not send a false signal to the world “Send,” the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
U.S. officials have met often with the 88-year-old Dalai Lama. However, Ms. Pelosi’s presence in the delegation was reminiscent of her trip to Taiwan in 2022, the self-governing island that China claims as its territory, when she was still the Dalai Lama’s speaker of the House.
That controversial visit, which raised fears in the Biden administration that already frosty relations with Beijing could deteriorate further, triggered a sharp response from China, including trade restrictions on Taiwan and military exercises near the island.
The visit to India also comes at a time when Washington and New Delhi are deepening their ties, motivated in part by perceptions of a common Chinese threat. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, is in New Delhi this week, holding several rounds of talks with Indian officials on expanding defense and technology cooperation.
These wide-ranging discussions, coming weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a third term, show how much Washington is prioritizing ties with India, with American officials increasingly talking about New Delhi as a counterweight to Beijing.
Tenzin Lekshay, a spokesman for the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile, said that Tibet’s situation should not be viewed through “the lens of increasing U.S.-China rivalry” but as a reminder of how the Tibetan way of life “faces one.” “existential threat” as China assimilates the region.
“We hope that the leaders of the free world will stand up for the cause of Tibet, and in particular call on the Chinese leadership to resume dialogue to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict,” Mr Lekshay said.
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2024-06-19 03:06:30
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