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For those in Rio Lindo. |
Posted on 11/09/2005 4:58:13 PM PST by fuyb
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush met at the White House on Wednesday with the Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, ignoring objections from China 10 days before he makes an official visit to Beijing.
The private meeting with the president and the first lady came one day after the Bush administration named China a serious violator of religious freedom in a report to Congress.
"We've made our views very clear when it comes to our support for religious freedom... And we will continue to speak out on those issues," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
The Chinese government opposed Bush's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
"The Dalai Lama is not a mere religious figure. He is a political refugee who has conducted activities splitting China and undermining national unity," said Chu Maoming, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
"We are opposed to any invitation by any country extended to him. We are also opposed to any meetings with him."
Wednesday's meeting was Bush's third with the Dalai Lama. Next week Bush is due to visit Beijing and hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The Dalai Lama told reporters on Tuesday that talks between Tibetans and China have done little to ease a "very repressive" atmosphere in Chinese-ruled Tibet.
The 70-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader, who is head of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in India, was visiting Washington for a conference on science and meditation.
He fled to India after a failed uprising by Tibetans in 1959, nine years after China's People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet to establish communist rule.
The human rights record in China, where everything from critical Internet postings to publishing underground newspapers to religious worship can carry a stiff jail term, is a constant source of friction between Beijing and Washington.
I like this president.
The Dolly Llama is the most politically-correct anti-Communist refugee in the world. The Left, from the hippie anarchists to the Ivy League elitists, drool all over him but can't seem to bring themselves to turn against Communism, even in China. No enemies on the Left, you know.
Ricard Gere must be sooooooo full of praise for President Bush at this moment. HAAAAAAA!
Oh, and I have no problem with the President meeting with the Dalai Lama. I'm glad he did it despite their protests.
I like your post.
Oh wait......
Dali Lama Bump.
Certainly GW will be the better for meeting him,
and will have had a few laughs in addition,
he has a great sense of humor.
One can always benefit by meditating on compassion.
Except freedom loving conservatives, like us.
That's Reuters for you, finding the mildest possible term to describe a genocide.
They'll get over it.
"Dali Lama Bump.
Certainly GW will be the better for meeting him,
and will have had a few laughs in addition,
he has a great sense of humor.
One can always benefit by meditating on compassion."
___________________________________________________________
I'll second that.
I've always wondered, when one meets the Dalai Lama, is it correct protocol to say...
"Hello, Dalai?"
Probably not. :)
FWIW, Chu, prior to 1950 China had never had control of any part of Tibet in any manner. The opposite can not be said to be true.
As for Chinese national unity; without the threat of imprisonment and death your superficial appearance of unity would dissolve revealing a Balkanization that would put Eastern Europe to shame.
*sigh* What I wouldn't give to see that happen! :)
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For those in Rio Lindo. |
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