Dalai hurting ties: China

The Dalai Lama, currently in Japan, is scheduled to visit the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh on November 8 on what he has said is a spiritual, and not political, trip.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu on Tuesday said: “We have expressed our grave concerns. We believe that this once again exposes the nature of the Dalai Lama as anti- China,” Ma said here.
“We firmly oppose the visits of the Dalai Lama to the border regions ... this is a separatist action,” he said.

Ma said: “The Dalai Lama often lies and often engages in acts to sabotage China’s relations with other countries.”
He told a news briefing: “I am confident that his scheme to wreck China’s relations with the relevant country will come to nothing.” Ma went on to say that last month Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had agreed to focus on promoting healthy and stable relations. “We hope that each side will continue striving to make strides in that direction,” Ma was quoted as saying.
Wen and Manmohan Singh met for formal talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in the Thai resort of Hua Hin.

Ma’s statement came days after the Dalai Lama said he was surprised and saddened by China’s criticism of his visit to Tawang monastery.
“I was surprised at China’s criticism. If my visit creates problem, I am very sad, that’s all,” the 74-year-old Tibetan leader said in Tokyo.
“The Chinese government politicises too much wherever I go. Where I go is not political,” the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
Contending that he was travelling to Arunachal in connection with teaching his beliefs, the Dalai said Tawang held great memories for him as this was his first stop 50 years ago when he was forced to flee Tibet.
India and China were recently engaged in a verbal spat over Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to Arunachal over which China lays claim.
China objected to the Dalai’s visit, but India rejected the objection saying the Tibetan leader was free to travel anywhere in India. India, however, has made it clear that the Dalai Lama is not supposed to indulge in political activities.
The Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit Tawang monastery to deliver a spiritual discourse.