Reportage – 2004

Dalai Lama to visit Britain on heels of Chinese PM

DHARAMSHALA, India, 11 May 2004 (AFP)

The Dalai Lama will visit Britain later this month on the heels of a summit in London between the Chinese and British premiers, the exiled Tibetan leader's office said.

But his office said the Dalai Lama does not have a meeting scheduled with Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said Monday he discussed human rights among other issues with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"We have not requested a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the British prime minister," said Thupten Samphel, spokesman for the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamsala, India.

He said the Dalai Lama would visit the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh but that the trip to Britain was meant to promote spiritual values and Tibetan culture.

The 68-year-old Buddhist monk will also visit Liverpool and Glasgow during the visit from the last week of May to early June. Exact dates were not immediately specified.

The spokesman declined comment on Wen's visit to Britain but said the government-in-exile favoured dialogue with China, which has occupied Tibet since 1951.

"We welcome the world leaders raising human rights and the Tibetan issue with Chinese leaders. Such concerns will help the ongoing process of dialogue between China and the Tibetan government-in-exile," Samphel said.

The Dalai Lama met Blair in 1999 and his predecessor John Major in 1991.

The Tibetan leader returned to India Monday after a month-long trip to Canada, France and the United States.

In Ottawa, Paul Martin became the first Canadian premier to meet the Dalai Lama, defying protests by China.