Controversy arises prior to Dalai Lama's Bloomington visit

Ahead of his Bloomington visit next month, 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 will meet with President Bush Tuesday afternoon before receiving the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday. That honor has repeatedly been denounced by Chinese officials who have described the move as American meddling in China’s domestic politics.\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.” \nStill, Bush Administration spokesman Tony Fratto denied discussions between the Dalai Lama and Bush were politically motivated. He described the President’s meeting Tuesday as one with a religious leader, not a head of state. \nArjia Rinpoche, director of Bloomington’s Tibetan Culture Center, said the spiritual leader’s visit remains thrilling, despite the political controversy. He said event planners were already participating in “lots of preparations” for the visit, describing the anticipating of the events as “very exciting.” Those preparations, he said, would continue to be unaffected by any ongoing political controversy. \n“I am a religious person,” he said. “I don’t know about the political side.”\nThis is the fourth time the Dalai Lama and Bush have met since the President took office. Bush had no reason not to meet with the religious leader again, the spokesman said. \nA 1989 Noble Peace Prize laureate, the Dalai Lama has become a symbol for Tibetan struggle against Chinese rule. The leader has based his resistance movement in India since a failed uprising in 1959 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. \nThe leader will give a public speech at the IU Auditorium on Oct. 27, titled “Compassion: The Source of Peace.” Bloomington is a city the Dalai Lama has frequently in the past decades.