DATE=8/11/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=SNUBBING THE DALAI LAMA AT THE U-N
NUMBER=6-11967
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
INTRO: A controversy is brewing around the failure of
the United Nations to invite the exiled Tibetan
religious leader, the Dalai Lama, to an upcoming
conference of world religious figures at the U-N's New
York headquarters at the end of August.
We get a sampling of American editorial comment on the
conflict now from __________ in today's U-S Opinion
Roundup.
TEXT: The conference is titled the Millennium World
Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. It
will bring together more than one thousand religious
figures from around the world to discuss the quest for
peace and how to achieve it.
Many U-S papers are pointing out the folly of having
such a conference without inviting one of the most
famous religious and spiritual leaders of our time.
The conference is privately funded by several
foundations and Cable News Network founder Ted Turner,
under the auspices of the United Nations.
That caused the Chinese Ambassador to pressure U-N
Secretary General Kofi Annan to exclude the Dalai
Lama, who fled Tibet after China seized control of the
country in 1949. The Chinese do not want to be
reminded of the opposition to their occupation of
Tibet at such a gathering.
We begin our sampling with this comment from Hawaii's
Honolulu's Advertiser:
VOICE: United Nations officials are guilty,
profoundly and absurdly, of confusing spirituality
with politics. It is this confusion that has led them
to omit the Dalai Lama, who was awarded the 1989 Nobel
Peace Prize, from the one-thousand invitations it sent
to religious leaders for the ... summit. ... The U-
N's confusion is fed by its fear of offending China.
China, to be sure, is touchy in the extreme about any
perceived intrusion into its "internal affairs."
"China would object vehemently to his presence here
because they consider Tibet to be Chinese territory,
and the Dalai Lama challenges that," said U-N
spokesman Fred Eckhard.
The Dalai Lama's spiritual teachings have swayed
millions on this globe in the direction of love,
tolerance and nonviolence. As such, his presence at
the peace summit is essential - - whatever China says.
TEXT: In the southwest, the Tulsa [Oklahoma] World
says politics has n o place determining the guest
list.
VOICE: Nowhere is that more important than in the
United States. So... the United Nations should ignore
China's selfish and politically motivated demand and
invite the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama.
TEXT: The Boston Globe writes:
VOICE: By bowing to opposition from China, [Secretary
General Annan and his colleagues placed themselves in
... a truly bizarre contradiction. If more than one-
thousand religious and spiritual leaders have been
invited to ... assist [the] world body in ...
resolving conflicts and making peace, then ...there
can be no logical reason to exclude the Tibetan
Buddhist leader who has succeeded Mohandas Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Junior as the world's most eminent
apostle of nonviolence. /// OPT /// To his credit,
[Secretary Annan] did not try to hide the motive for
leaving the Dalai Lama off the summit's invitation
list. Said Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard: "China
would object vehemently to his presence here because
they consider Tibet their territory and the Dalai Lama
challenges that." /// END OPT ///
TEXT: The New York Times is not happy with the
decision either.
VOICE: Geopolitics has tainted the ... summit ...
China detests the Dalai Lama because he is a symbol of
the distinctive Tibetan culture Beijing has been
trying to destroy for the past 41 years. China
regularly uses its power as a member of the Security
Council to block his participation in U-N sponsored
events. The Dalai Lama has told the conference
organizers ... they should go ahead without him. But
it would be better to take a stand against his
unjustifiable exclusion. The conference's chief
financial underwriter, Ted Turner, and the religious
leaders planning to attend should make clear that if
the U-N is not prepared to reverse itself, they will
move the conference to another location.
TEXT: For its part, The Washington Post says of the
snub:
VOICE: ... China's veto turns what was planned as a
showcase for the power of faith into a case study in
the power of power.
TEXT: Across the capital, the Washington Times
agrees:
VOICE: Hosting a millennium summit in the name of
peace when the event's organizers allow a brutal
regime and routine violator of human rights to dictate
who may attend the summit is a shameful farce. Any
party associated with the event, including the
attendees, will be tainted by this exclusion. In his
typical gracious style, the Dalai Lama has said the
summit should go on without him, but those invited
must question if they should attend if the Tibetan
leader is left out.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
editorial opinion regarding what some papers are
calling the "blacklisting" of the Dalai Lama at a
world conference of religious leaders set for the
United Nations headquarters in late August.
NEB/ANG/KL
11-Aug-2000 15:07 PM LOC (11-Aug-2000 1907 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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