US Congress members urge Biden to meet Dalai Lama

0
100
US Congress members urge Biden to meet Dalai Lama

Dec 15, 2021: Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress have urged President Joe Biden to meet with the Dalai Lama to ensure that Tibetan rights remain high on the agenda, despite strained relations between Washington and Beijing. 

Since George HW Bush in 1991, every current US president has met with Tibet’s spiritual leader, except for Donald Trump, as the now-86-year-old Dalai Lama has slowed down his once busy travel schedule.

Thirty Eight senators and 27 members of the House also called on the US president to put pressure on China to resume talks with Dalai Lama’s representatives, which took place 12 years ago. The Senate letter states that “President Biden may demonstrate the importance of His Holiness’s moral message and example by inviting His Holiness to a meeting in the Oval Office.”

The letter, led by Democrat Patrick Leahy and Republican Marco Rubio, said the focus on Tibet would be “a clear manifestation of a principled foreign policy that prioritizes the pursuit of human rights and human dignity.”

If the Dalai Lama is unable to travel, the senators said Biden should send Vice President Kamala Harris or any other high-ranking official to visit him in India, where the Nobel Peace Prize laureate fled the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959.

China’s lack of interest in the talks has convinced many observers that Beijing is waiting out the Dalai Lama, in the hope that the global movement for greater rights in Tibet will be led by a Buddhist monk and cultural icon. US lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to continue insisting that China not interfere in the selection of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, amid fears that an officially atheist government could impose a pliant successor.

The letters were written to Uzra Zia, the Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society, Democracy and Human Rights, ahead of her expected appointment as coordinator of the Biden administration in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama did not visit the US during Trump’s presidency, and COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, limiting opportunities for meetings. But the monk also openly criticized the sensitive Trump, saying he lacked “ethical principles” on issues ranging from climate change to immigrant rights.

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said in a book that Trump objected when then-US ambassador to the United Nations Nicki Haley requested a meeting with the Dalai Lama, fearing that the meeting would endanger a trade deal with China. Later, Trump turned in to a critic of China.

Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!

UAE suspends discussions on F35 aircraft deal with US

Leave a reply