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Washington, November 11: Falling short of calling it a "mistake", top Republican Senator John McCain today said he would have met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama if he were the president of the United States. McCain, who lost to President Barack Obama in the last year's presidential elections, said this in an interview to CNN, wherein he was critical of the Obama Administration adopting a softer approach on human rights in China and not meeting the Dalai Lama, when he was here last month. "I can't say it was a mistake. I have to give the President the benefit...

Singh to Wen: Dalai Lama an honored guest By John Ruwitch – Sun Oct 25, 7:11 am ET HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) – India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rebuffed China's wishes that it bar the Dalai Lama from traveling to a disputed border area, telling Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the Tibetan spiritual leader was an honored guest. "I explained to Premier Wen that the Dalai Lama is our honored guest. He is a religious leader. We do not allow the Tibetan refugees to indulge in political activities," Singh told reporters on Sunday, a day after he and Wen held bilateral...

The Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibet, was in Washington last week and President Obama did not meet him. "Big mistake," said my Eritrean taxi driver on the way over to hear the Dalai Lama speak at an awards ceremony at Sidney Harman Hall on Wednesday. What seemed so obvious to my driver was the product of an elaborate rationalization by the Obama administration. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg outlined the new policy of "strategic reassurance" in a speech on September 24. The United States, he said, has struck a "core, if tacit, bargain" with China under which...

Dalai Lama asks Obama to champion 'liberty'2 hrs 21 mins ago WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Dalai Lama on Friday congratulated President Barack Obama on joining him as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and called for the US leader to champion "freedom and liberty." The exiled Tibetan leader, who is in Washington, sent Obama a letter of congratulations even though the president, in an apparent bid not to upset China, avoiding meeting the Buddhist monk during his weeklong visit. The Dalai Lama, who won the prestigious award in 1989, told Obama that the Nobel committee "recognized your approach towards resolving international...

The Dalai Lama (right) greets Senator John McCain during a ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Top US lawmakers have presented the Dalai Lama with an award in Congress, throwing their support behind the exiled Tibetan leader who is being shunned by President Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama, accepting a human rights prize from a U.S. foundation Tuesday, chastised the United States for not fully addressing the economic divide between its poorest and richest citizens. "Huge gap, rich to poor. This is unhealthy," he said. "You have to think seriously about those less-privileged people. They're also human beings." The "real greatness of America," he said, "is your ancestors' principles," and he urged the nation to preserve those principles. "When I think of America, I think of the idea -- concept of freedom, liberty, equality. I think these are real human values," he...

(NECN: Washington) - The Dalai Lama today is receiving the Lantos Human Rights Prize. The award is in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos.Those who advocate for Tibet see the Dalai Lama's White House visits as important messages of support for Tibetans and others struggling for human rights. "We can't replace Tom's voice, but we can help and ensure it is not forgotten...liberty is the right of mankind," said Senator John McCain.

Another first by lord Obama, defender of the tyrants. He has no time or intention to honor a man of God and a champion of freedom. Obama also has no time for a national day of prayer. Obama is too busy courting tyrants and pushing his socialist Obamacare on everyone. Apparantly freedom loving people are a threat to cult Obama and his one world godless government.

Here is video of Robert Gibbs being asked about President Obama delaying his meeting with the Dalai Lama. Gibbs was asked "is he (Obama) worried about irritating Chinese leaders before his visit?" Gibbs answered "there was an agreement to do this later in the year, and that is what's going to happen." Gibbs also said "it's important that the Tibetan people know our relationship with China helps them." He was then asked "what does meeting with the Dalai Lama later have to do with leading a strong relationship with China?" Gibbs struggled a bit to answer that. (Video)

The last time the Dalai Lama visited Washington, President George W. Bush presented the exiled Tibetan leader with the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony on Capitol Hill. Now the Dalai Lama cannot even get a private meeting with President Obama. The only winner in this rebuff is communist China.

President Barack Obama has broken with presidential precedent and has refused to meet with the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the chief of the Buddhist faith and is also the acting head of state for Tibet, which China invaded in 1950. The Dalai Lama is well-seen in many parts of American life and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. Obama is the first President not to meet with the religious leader since 1991.

President Obama would have the time to meet with the worse dictators, but he does not have the time to meet with a very spiritual man and a true person of peace? Is it because he doesn’t look like him, or has a funny name, or maybe because he doesn’t quite fit into the young President’s circle of brutal dictators and tyrants? My guess is … it’s the latter.

President Barack Obama will not meet the Dalai Lama during his five-day trip to the U.S. capital beginning on Monday, the first time in 18 years the exiled Tibetan leader has visited Washington without seeing the president. Obama instead intends to wait until after his November summit with Chinese leader Hu Jintao before meeting the Dalai Lama, possibly sometime in December, officials said. The decision to break precedent and delay any meeting was conveyed to the Dalai Lama last month when Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and State Department Undersecretary Maria Otero traveled to Dharamsala, India, to explain the administration's...

In an attempt to gain favour with China, for the first time since 1991 the US President will not meet Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama when he visits Washington this week. President Barack Obama who is scheduled to undertake his first visit to China next month has apparently decided not to meet the Dalai Lama son as not to annoy Beijing. "The US pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month," Washington Post reported. The Dalai Lama has met every...

President Barack Obama has refused to meet the Dalai Lama in Washington this week in a move to curry favour with the Chinese. The decision came after China stepped up a campaign urging nations to shun the Tibetan spiritual leader. It means Mr Obama will become the first president not to welcome the Nobel peace prize winner to the White House since the Dalai Lama began visiting Washington in 1991. The Buddhist monk arrived in Washington on Monday for a week of meetings with Congressional leaders, celebrity supporters and interest groups, but the president will not see him until after...

Good grief. You begin to wonder if the man has a list of Friendly Leaders I Still Need to Offend. The Washington Post is reporting that the Dalai Lama went to Washington this week – apparently expecting to be received at the White House – only to find that his meeting with the president has been “postponed… until after Obama’s summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month.” According to the Post, this is the “first time since 1991, the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit Washington this week and not meet with the president.” The snub could...

In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month, according to diplomats, government officials and other sources familiar with the talks. For the first time since 1991, the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit Washington this week and not meet with the president. Since 1991, he has been here 10 times. Most times the meetings have been "drop-in" visits at the White House. The last time he was here, in 2007,...

BARACK Obama made history last year when he became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States. Next month, he will make history again, of a different sort. He will become the first president not to meet the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan leader visits Washington. Ever since April 1991, when then president George H.W. Bush met the Nobel laureate, he has been received by the American president, regardless of party... However, China has been sending signals to warn Obama not to meet the Dalai Lama next month. And last week, Obama sent a delegation...to Dharamsala in...

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser and assistant to US President Barack Obama [ Images ], accompanied by Maria Otero, the Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs in the US State Department, visited Dharamshala [ Images ] on September 14, and met the Dalai Lama [ Images ] and Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan-government-in-exile. The Dalai Lama is to visit the US next month in response to long-pending invitations from US non-governmental organisations supporting the Tibetan cause. During the course of his stay, he had also planned to visit Washington, DC and his supporters in the US were...

The Chinese are upset, once more, with the Indian establishment. This time it's because the Dalai Lama is planning to visit Tawang, in Arunachal Pradesh, and New Delhi is unlikely to stop him from doing so. China, which lays claim on Arunachal Pradesh, wants India to prevent the exiled Tibetan leader from entering the state. Just last year, the Dalai Lama had to cancel his visit to the same area as the Indian administration denied him permission, reportedly under pressure from China. But this time, New Delhi is standing firm. China has gone back on the guiding principles the two...

The Dalai Lama began the first full day of his controversial trip to Taiwan with words to mollify China, saying his mission to comfort victims of one of the deadliest storms to hit the island was entirely humanitarian. The visit by the exiled spiritual leader has the potential to set back improving ties between the island and China – which claims Taiwan as a renegade province – and deal a set back to the signature policy of the 15-month-old administration of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou. However, the maroon-robed monk was unequivocal in his assessment of the five-day trip. “I've visited...

Taiwan readies for Dalai Lama visit as China fumes By Ralph Jennings TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's president has not ruled out a chance meeting with the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan spiritual leader visits next week, officials said on Friday, a move that would sour the island's recent closer ties with China. Beijing brands the India-based Dalai Lama as a separatist and has lashed out at Taiwan's opposition, which invited the Dalai Lama subject to President Ma Ying-jeou's approval. China's reaction is also seen as a blow to Ma, elected in 2008 pledged to improve relations with Beijing, but only...

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday approved a visit next week by the Dalai Lama to the typhoon-hit island in a move analysts say could damage Taipei's efforts to improve ties with China. "We have decided to the Dalai Lama's visit to pray for the souls of the deceased and seek blessings for the survivors of the typhoon," Ma told reporters in central Nantou county. The Dalai Lama, whom Beijing has accused of trying to split Tibet from China and reacts angrily to any country or territory hosting him, said last year that he wanted to visit Taiwan but Ma...

NEW DELHI: Beijing is not going to be amused but the Obama administration has approached Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama for a meeting with the US president when the Buddhist monk visits America between September-end and mid-October. Highly placed government sources told TOI that the US administration has contacted Dalai Lama's office for a meeting between the two leaders in what appears to be a considered decision, given China's intense resentment of any official contact with the Dalai Lama whom it reviles as a ``splittist''. China's anger has only increased after the violent protests ahead of last year's Beijing Olympics...

The Dalai Lama has been visiting the Boston area, and I’d like to mention a few reports. First, a note from an NRO reader: Hi, Jay, I had the great opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak at MIT this afternoon. When he opened the forum to audience Q&A, the following stunning exchange occurred (I will paraphrase):  Audience member: “Can you give us an example of a leader we should look up to as a positive influence?” Dalai Lama (after thinking for a few seconds): “President Bush. I met him personally and liked him very much. He was honest and straightforward, and...

The Chinese government issued two statements last Thursday. Both were only briefly, and separately, noted in the press. They make for a curious contrast. In one, China denounced Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso for making an offering to the Yasukuni shrine. This is the shrine that honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 top war criminals from World War II, when Japan committed terrible atrocities in China. China was furious when the then-prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, visited Yasukuni in 2005, and the next two prime ministers stayed clear. But Mr. Aso, a pugnacious nationalist, revived the controversy on Tuesday...

Berkeley will have its equivalent of the harmonic convergence Saturday: a visit by the Dalai Lama, a raucous Earth Day festival and special farmers' market celebrating the elimination of plastic bags. Fear of 'public outrage' over girl's autopsy 04.24.09 What do you expect? It's talk radio, court says 04.24.09 New UC admissions policy angers Asian-Americans 04.24.09 Visitors are advised to use public transit, car-shares and ride bicycles downtown, which is expected to be near gridlock due to the Dalai Lama's security detail and the multiple festivals. The city will close Allston Way between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King, Jr.,...

A China-based cyber spy network has hacked into government and private systems in 103 countries, including those of many Indian embassies and the Dalai Lama, an Internet research group said here Saturday. The Information Warfare Monitor (IWM), which carried out an extensive 10-month research on cyber spy activities emanating from China, said the hacked systems include the computers of Indian embassies and offices of the Dalai Lama.

The South African Government has admitted it barred the Dalai Lama from attending a peace conference in the country to avoid undermining relations with China. The Tibetan spiritual leader was due to attend the anti-racism conference in South Africa last Friday. The Government originally denied it was pressured by China to refuse him entry, but today a spokesman said it was decided South Africa's interests would be better served if it gave priority to making sure bilateral relations with China were not compromised. The conference has now been postponed indefinitely.

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from a peace conference in Johannesburg this week, saying Monday it did not want to endanger the government's relationship with China. The move prompted sharp criticism from the Nobel Committee, among others. Thabo Masebe, spokesman for President Kgalema Motlanthe, said now was not the time for such a high-profile visit from the Tibetan spiritual leader and added that South Africa hoped to avoid being "the source of negative publicity about China."

Reporting from Sacramento -- The California Legislature rarely balks at bloviating en masse during its frequent and normally routine passage of resolutions to honor the dead, herald the past or celebrate the most innocuous of achievements. But on Monday, the subject of the Dalai Lama was apparently too hot to handle. Assembly Democrats balked at a resolution to honor Tibet's spiritual leader and mark the 50th anniversary of his people's revolt against Chinese rule, and referred it to a committee. In response, minority Republicans accused them of buckling under to China's communist government. The resolution's author, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-San...

DHARMSALA, India – Chinese rule in Tibet has created a "hell on earth" that has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans, the Dalai Lama said Tuesday in a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent him into exile.

Dalai Lama marks 50 years of Chinese oppression (video)The Dalai Lama has been in exile for 50 years now. Meanwhile, the people of Tibet have lived under the yoke of Chinese oppression. There was hope President Barack Obama would put pressure on the Chinese to improve human rights in Tibet. However, statements by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her recent Far East visit, indicate the Obama Administration is willing to throw Chinese human rights under the bus in favor of Chinese economic cooperation. Video here.

Adrienne Farrell spent the war in the naval section at Bletchley Park, where the German Enigma code was broken. She joined Reuters in 1945 and became a foreign correspondent in Switzerland, Italy and India. Peter Jackson was an officer in the Royal Navy and joined Reuters as foreign correspondent in Pakistan, India and Italy. They met when Peter scooped the first interviews with Hillary and Tenzing after their successful ascent of Everest in 1953. After marriage they worked together in India. In 1959, Jackson and Farrell scooped other media outlets with their exclusive reports about the Dalai Lama's escape from...

Situation "very tense", unrest possible in Tibet: Dalai Lama AFP[Wednesday, February 11, 2009 23:00] BADEN BADEN, Germany - The Dalai Lama warned Wednesday of a fresh uprising in Tibet in the "very tense" run-up to the 50th anniversary of the failed rebellion against Chinese rule that prompted his flight into exile. "Today there is too much anger... The situation is very tense," said the 73-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader during a visit to the German spa town of Baden Baden. "At any moment there can be an outburst of violence," he told a group of journalists. "This is my worry...

The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed. "It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here. He also termed terrorism as the worst kind of violence which is not carried by a few mad people but by those who are very brilliant and educated. "They (terrorists) are very brilliant and educated...but a strong ill feeling is bred in them. Their minds are closed," the Dalai...

He loves him. The Dalai Lama admits, "I love George Bush." Beeqube and ROP reported: The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed. "It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here. He also termed terrorism as the worst kind of violence which is not carried by a few mad people but by those who are very brilliant and educated.

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama, a lifelong champion of non-violence on Saturday candidly stated that terrorism cannot be tackled by applying the principle of ahimsa because the minds of terrorists are closed. "It is difficult to deal with terrorism through non-violence," the Tibetan spiritual leader said delivering the Madhavrao Scindia Memorial Lecture here. He also termed terrorism as the worst kind of violence which is not carried by a few mad people but by those who are very brilliant and educated. "They (terrorists) are very brilliant and educated...but a strong ill feeling is bred in them. Their minds are closed,"...

translation: I am sorry, but I am not boycotting French goods Written by DJ on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am Filed under:General | Tags:boycott, France, Opinion, translation Add comments Note: This is a translation of an essay published in the Chinese Youth On-Line (中�在线). This translation is meant to bring to readers’ attention some of the diverse opinions publicly expressed in today’s China. I came across it because it was highlighted as the number one piece in Sina’s (新浪) opinion section. [UPDATE]: ESWN also has a translation of this article and some more. Interestingly, the version translated at...

BEIJING: Chinese consumers have begun to boycott France made goods and keep away from Carrefour, the French supermarket chain to express their anger against the meeting between French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama. Sarkozy, who also holds the rotating chair at the European Union, went ahead with his planned meeting with the Tibetan leader despite repeated requests from the Chinese government not to do so. The Chinese government has said that any meeting between a world leader and the Tibetan leader amounts to interfering in China's domestic affairs as the Dalai Lama is involved in separatist activities. This...

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, on Friday said sex spelt fleeting satisfaction and trouble later, while chastity offered a better life and "more freedom." "Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually I think is short period satisfaction and often, that leads to more complication," the Dalai Lama told reporters in a Lagos hotel, speaking in English without a translator. He said conjugal life caused "too much ups and downs. "Naturally as a human being ... some kind of desire for sex comes, but then you use human intelligence to make comprehension that those couples always full of...

Furious China calls off EU summit Jane Macartney in Beijing China showed its fury at international recognition accorded to the Dalai Lama by calling off an annual summit with the European Union because of France's Nicolas Sarkozy plans to meet the Tibetan god-king. The decision by Beijing, coming when the international community is striving to boost cooperation to fight off the global financial crisis, is a dramatic example of the lengths to which Beijing is willing to go to isolate the Dalai Lama internationally. French President Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, will go ahead with plans to...

November 17, 2008 Tibetans debate call for full independence from China Samdhong Rinpoche (centre), Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in northern India, after attending a special meeting in Dharamsala Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent Exiled Tibetan leaders began an unprecedented week-long conference today to discuss whether to stick to the Dalai Lama's non-violent quest for autonomy within China or re-launch a drive for outright independence. More than 600 Tibetans from around the world are attending the meeting in Dharamsala, the north Indian hill station where the Dalai Lama set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet in 1959. The...

Tibetan exiles rethink struggle against Chinese rule by Ben Sheppard DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) – Leading Tibetan exiles kicked off a week-long meeting in northern India Monday that could usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, called the gathering after admitting that his attempts to secure greater autonomy for the region through negotiation with the Chinese government had failed. Before the talks began, he had urged the 500 participants to consider all aspects of policy regarding China -- ensuring that the thorny issue of whether to push...

China on Thursday made a direct request to India for blocking the proposed six-day meeting organised by the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala from November 17 to discuss the future of Tibet. "The Indian government has made solemn commitment about not allowing any anti-China activities on its soil. We hope that the commitment will be implemented," Qin Gang, the foreign ministry spokesman said at a press conference on Thursday. Anyone who participates in the meeting being organised by the Dalai Lama will not be liked by the Chinese people, he said. The Chinese government is against anyone trying to split the...

The Dalai Lama said on Monday talks with China about autonomy for Tibet had so far been a "failure" and he plans to remain silent ahead of a special meeting of Tibetan exiles later this month to discuss its future. Concern has grown about the diminishing likelihood of a meaningful settlement between China and the Tibetan exiles, even as the Dalai Lama's envoys hold fence-mending talks this week in China. "Things (are) not going well ... I have to accept failure," the 73-year-old exiled Tibetan leader told a news conference in Tokyo, where he is visiting to give spiritual talks....

Chinese rule is handing down a "death sentence" to Tibetans, the Dalai Lama said Sunday, ahead of a meeting to decide Tibet's future approach to Beijing. The region's exiled leader is on a week-long visit to Japan for talks on spirituality, just as a new round of talks between his envoys and Chinese officials was set to begin, and days after he said he had lost hope of any productive dialogue with Beijing. "Tibetans are being handed down a death sentence. This ancient nation, with an ancient cultural heritage is dying," he told a group of reporters. "Today, the situation...

Crucial meet will hear voices for Tibet's independence By Jaideep Sarin, Dharamsala, Oct 30 : Over 500 top Tibetan leaders from India, Nepal, Europe, the US and other nations will assemble here Nov 17-22 to deliberate on whether to seek complete 'independence' for Tibet instead of 'autonomy' under Chinese rule. The is the biggest meeting ever of the exiled Tibetan leadership to be held at their headquarters in exile at Mcleodganj, near here. The six-day special meeting has been called by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile at the behest of Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Over 15 MPs in the 43-member...

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday called on China to review its policies that it said had raised tensions in Tibet, ahead of talks in Beijing between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials. Two envoys of the Dalai Lama headed to China on Thursday for talks on the future of Tibet, just days after the Tibetan spiritual leader said he saw no hope in the current dialogue with Beijing. The United States "encourage China to examine policies that have created tensions due to their effect on Tibetan culture, religion and livelihoods," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said. Washington also...

On Saturday the Dalai Lama made a quiet statement of desperation, signaling the frustration of decades of failed efforts to win fair treatment for Tibetans living within China’s borders. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve given up,” reports quoted the Dalai Lama as saying, referring to his attempts to engage Beijing in meaningful talks on human rights abuses and the lack of autonomy in Tibet. With these heartbreaking words, the exiled spiritual leader conceded what independent observers have long recognized: Beijing has not and will not move one inch on Tibet. For all the differences between Taiwan, a sovereign country,...