Dalai Lama To Visit Taiwan
(by Patricia Kuo | AP | February 9, 1994)
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama plans to make his first visit to Taiwan this year to promote religious and cultural exchange, his envoy said Monday. The planned visit is seen as an attempt at reconciliation between the Dalai Lama and Taiwan's Nationalist government, which still claims to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of China, including Tibet.
Gyalo Thondup, the Dalai Lama's brother and the Tibetan exiled government's minister for security and international affairs, said his government also will set up a liaison office in Taipei later this year.
He said his brother may visit Taiwan as early as May but no later than October and will call on President Lee Ten-hui, who has earlier pledged support for the Dalai Lama's campaign to seek peace with China. Taiwan's National government, which fled the communist takeover of the Chinese mainland in 1949, has opposed Tibetan moves to seek independence from China.
But under President Lee Ten-hui's pragmatic policies, Taiwan has promised more flexibility in its policy towards Tibet. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 with thousands of followers after an unsuccessful uprising against China, is the spiritual leader of 6 million Tibetan Buddhists.
Chang Chun-yi, chairman of Taiwan's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs commission, told reporters Taiwan welcomes the visit of the Dalai Lama and will consider setting up a representative office with the exiled Tibetans, who are based in India. Thondup arrived in Taipei last month to attend a forum hosted by Taiwan's World Leagues for Freedom and Democracy. He is due to leave Tuesday.
Friends of Tibet (INDIA),
PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050
www.friendsoftibet.org