Dalai Lama says Taiwan visit is 'non-political'The Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (dä`lī lä`mə) [Tibetan,=oceanic teacher], title of the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Believed like his predecessors to be the incarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 1935–, said before flying to Taiwan on Sunday that his visit, which has angered China, was strictly non-political and a "moral responsibility" after a massive typhoon typhoon: see hurricane. devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. the island. "I'm very, very strict, (the trip is of a) non-political nature," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said in footage shown by Taiwan's TVBS TVBS Television Broadcasting Service TVBS Television Broadcast Satellite cable news channel, shortly before leaving New Delhi New Delhi (dĕl`ē), city (1991 pop. 294,149), capital of India and of Delhi state, N central India, on the right bank of the Yamuna River. for his five-day visit. "They expressed a wish, you see, for my presence... They asked me. It is my moral responsibility to accept to go there," he said. The Dalai Lama was scheduled to arrive in Taiwan late Sunday and spend most of his time visiting areas hit hard by Typhoon Morakot, which left at least 571 people dead earlier in August. China voiced its "resolute opposition" to the Dalai Lama's visit, his third to Taiwan, after it was confirmed last week. Beijing says the spiritual leader is bent on splitting his Himalayan homeland apart from the rest of China. The Dalai Lama was invited to Taiwan by members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which favours formal independence for the island from China. 
|
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion