VIENNA: The Dalai Lama met Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann Saturday, a day after saying he was open to dialogue with China and calling for real autonomy for Tibet.
The social democrat Faymann dismissed warnings from Beijing that its relations with Vienna could be threatened by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader's 11-day visit to Austria.
"I answer the question of whom I meet myself, and that goes for the Dalai Lama," he said. "Austria is a country which has always shown itself to be on the side of human rights, and I alone am responsible for my agenda."
Calling their meeting "a clear political signal for human rights, non-violence and dialogue and against oppression," Faymann said he was personally interested in meeting such an "eminent figure" as the Dalai Lama.
Chinese ambassador to Vienna Shi Mingde said on Monday that Austria should not offer a platform to the Dalai Lama's "separatist tendencies", warning that it would not be beneficial to relations with Beijing.
The 76-year-old exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told journalists on arrival in Vienna Friday with the prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay that he wanted a solution with mutual benefit for Tibet and China.
Sangay stressed that it was not a question of securing independence for Tibet but that the region aspired to real autonomy within the Chinese constitution.
The Dalai Lama met Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger later on Friday. He was to speak later Saturday at a gathering of support for the Tibetan people.
The Nobel Peace Laureate who has lived in exile in India since 1959 has a long relationship with Austria and visits regularly -- the last time in 2007.
China has imposed tight security to contain simmering discontent in Tibetan regions since 2008, when deadly rioting against Chinese rule broke out in Lhasa and spread to neighbouring Tibetan-inhabited regions.
Comments
Comments are closed.