No longer merely a religious affair, the arrival of the Dalai Lama in Taiwan late Sunday was considered a challange on relationship in rebuilding between the island and China mainland, while each actor in the event has took a step backward to avoid rising the tension.
According to the Associated Press, the leader of the tibetan government in exil recived greetings as well as protests after landing in Taipei on Sunday. A group of demonstrators blamed him to interfere the reunification of China.
The 78 old buddhist explained to the Wall Street Journal that the protestors have misunderstood his “political stance”, saying that he wasn’t pursuing independence from China or intending to interfere with Taiwan’s relationship with the mainland.
Sunday, in the consideration of bring down the tension caused by the visit, the Dalai Lama’s office canceled the only news conference of his five-day trip, which in the view of some taiwanese politicians could become a platform to critisize China.
The mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, greets the Dalai Lama at the airport Sunday.
According to the reports, the visit, aimed to comfort the victims of Typhoon Marokot, is requested by the opposition party members to the Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou, who is facing critics on government’s slow responce to the disaster. Ealier comments say that the president has to make a choise between “risk angering China, or give further ammunition to the opposition”
The president has made his way to keep the balance. He approved the visit, but would not attend events hosted by the Dalai Lama. “President Ma is very busy with the relief efforts and control of an outbreak of H1N1 flu, Wang Yu-chi, a spokesman for the president’s office told the Wall Steet Journal. “We have decided that President Ma would only attend government-hosted religious ceremonies.”
A non verified information said that the taiwan’s ruling party Kuomindang had send a special envoy to Beijing in responce to the visit. Wu Poh-hsiung, leader of Kuomindang, expressed to the Wall Street Journal his hope to Dalai Lama to keep distance to politics, saying “We believe the Dalai Lama will have the wisdom to distinguish the difference of religious empathy and political maneuvering,”
On the other side, China on Monday repeated its opposition to the Dalai Lama’s visit, saying it could have a “negative influence” on relations, said the state run Xin Hua agncy. However, the protest to the invitation focus on the opposition party, not Mr Ma, showing a “likely effort to keep the improving relations on track” according to the Wall Street News
