Before IU visit, Dalai Lama stirs international controversy

Just weeks before his Bloomington visit, the Dalai Lama became trapped in the middle of another international political firestorm Tuesday – straining relations between the United States and China. \nThe religious leader met with President Bush at the White House Tuesday afternoon, despite objections from Chinese officials. The private meeting came one day before the Dalai Lama is scheduled to receive the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal. That honor has repeatedly been denounced by Chinese officials, who have described the move as America meddling in China’s domestic policies. \n“We solemnly demand that the U.S. cancel the extremely wrong arrangements,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing, according to the Associated Press. “It seriously violates the norm of international relations and seriously wounded the feelings of the Chinese people and interfered with China’s internal affairs.”\nBut despite claims by White House officials that the leader’s meeting with Bush was not politically motivated, Scott Kennedy, associate professor and U.S.-Chinese relations specialist, said U.S. officials saw this as an opportunity to elevate the Dalai Lama’s status, while Chinese leaders viewed resurging respect as a threat to their current grip on the embattled region.\n“I don’t think the President thought there was a heck of a lot to lose,” Kennedy said. \nWhile in the short run the situation could bruise U.S.-China relations, the professor said, it still does not signal a significant U.S. foreign policy swing. \n“In a few weeks time, these events will be history, unless something very unexpected occurs,” Kennedy said, describing both sides’ current actions as a showcase of “political theater.”\nAnd if tensions between the nations cool soon, it could likely be just in time for the spiritual leader’s Bloomington visit at the end of October.\nRegardless of the political row, the respected leader’s Bloomington trip remains an exciting prospect for Arjia Rinpoche, director of Bloomington’s Tibetan Culture Center. Event planners were already engaged in “lots of preparations,” he said. Those plans, he said, would be unaffected by any ongoing political controversy.\n“I am a religious person,” he said. “I don’t know about the political side.”\nRep. Baron Hill, D-9th District, voted for the Congressional award and said it represents a “lifetime of humanitarian work and his selfless dedication to men and women all over the world,” according to a statement. \nA 1989 Noble Peace Prize laureate, the Dalai Lama has become a symbol for Tibetan struggles against Chinese rule. The leader has based his resistance movement in India since a failed 1959 uprising forced him to flee his homeland.\nAnd even while the communist-led Chinese government has strived to demonize the figure, the Dalai Lama’s international popularity has soared in recent years. Rather than continuing calls for total Tibetan independence, the leader now demands increased autonomy for the region as an alternative to sovereignty. Those efforts have not yet moved Chinese government officials, who have only tightened their grip on the region recently.\nBloomington is a city the Dalai Lama has frequently visited since becoming a global icon a few decades ago. His brother, Thubten Norbu, is a retired IU professor and still lives in Bloomington. The leader will give a public speech Oct. 27 at Assembly Hall titled, “Compassion: The Source of Peace.”