A bipartisan United States congressional delegation met with the Dalai Lama Wednesday at his residence in India’s Dharamshala, sparking anger from China which views the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism as a dangerous separatist.
This comes as Washington and Beijing have recently restarted talks after several years of turmoil that began after the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods under the Trump administration. Relations at the time deteriorated even more following the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising military tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
The high-level delegation, led by Republican Rep. Michael McCaul and including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived Tuesday at the hillside town, which the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has made his headquarters since fleeing from Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. There, they met with officials from the Tibetan government-in-exile, which wants more autonomy for Tibet.
Beijing doesn’t recognize said administration and hasn’t held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.
“Suck my tongue” Dalai Lama to a young boy
Yeah did we just forget about this? Why are we talking to this old creep?
Edit: so I bought into media outrage - this is just a harmless joke. Linking to comment with article:
Because he is the spiritual leader that is the representative of Tibetan people. Can’t ignore him if we still care about the people he represents.
Completely fair.
Hey dude - really appreciate this. Thank you. Im glad this is just an innocent joke, sorry I bought into media outrage. I’ll amend my statement.
You’re welcome!
Why are we talking to this old creep?
Because we give him lots of money to annoy China
The dilution of “anger from China”.
It’s as long a running joke as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China’s_final_warning
Seriously, they could be genuine some day. Like warn the world against some major catastrophe, but we’ll assume that if China’s upset, it’s nothing to worry about or may even be something we want to happen.
Umm so they did have a major one and didn’t tell anyone.
They told the crowd that a key focus of their visit was to underscore the Resolve Tibet Act, passed by the U.S. Congress last week, and aims to encourage dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials with the hopes of finding a peaceful resolution between Tibet and Beijing. The bill should now be sent to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into a law.
Pelosi said the bill is “a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” eliciting applause.
McCaul, the Republican representative, said it reaffirmed American support for the Tibetan right to self-determination. “Just this week our delegation received a letter from the Chinese Communist Party, warning us not to come here… but we did not let the CCP intimidate us for we are here today,” he said as people cheered.
I like reading news like this :)
said it reaffirmed American support for the Tibetan right to self-determination
This is a subtle stab at China. The CCP loves talking about sovereignty and self determination as a defense for their actions, but it’s also projection for their actions in Tibet and the South China Sea.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
This comes as Washington and Beijing have recently restarted talks after several years of turmoil that began after the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods under the Trump administration.
The high-level delegation, led by Republican Rep. Michael McCaul and including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived Tuesday at the hillside town, which the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has made his headquarters since fleeing from Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
After meeting the spiritual leader on Wednesday, the seven U.S. lawmakers addressed hundreds who had gathered at a monastery just outside the 88-year-old Dalai Lama’s residence, waving American and Tibetan flags.
Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, urged Washington on Tuesday not to support Tibetan independence and said the White House “must not sign the bill into law,” or China will take “resolute measures,” without elaborating on what they may be.
The Tibetan spiritual leader has a history of engaging with U.S. officials, including American presidents — from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama — except for Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Beijing has repeatedly asked the U.S. not to interfere with Tibetan affairs and has argued that the people of Tibet have enjoyed social stability and economic growth under its rule.
The original article contains 617 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
I’m not sure why China is upset about this, because the current Dalai Lama is a mess, and China kidnapped the Panchen Lama and installed their own guy in his place. They’ve already got pretty good control over the future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
This is never not going to be weird to me.
