A high-level U.S. congressional delegation, together with the previous Home speaker Nancy Pelosi, met with the Dalai Lama at his Indian dwelling on Wednesday, a go to that was condemned prematurely by China’s authorities, which considers the exiled Tibetan religious chief a separatist.
The delegation, led by Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the Home Committee on International Affairs, arrived on Tuesday within the Himalayan city of Dharamsala, the place the Dalai Lama has lived because the Sixties. The delegation visited the workplaces of the Tibetan authorities in exile, which is pushing for autonomy for Tibet inside China.
The journey comes days after Congress handed a invoice with bipartisan help that urged China to start out dialogue with Tibetan leaders to discover a answer to the longstanding battle.
China’s criticism of the go to was speedy and unsurprising. Its leaders contemplate the federal government in exile unlawful and regard any help for the reason for autonomy for Tibet, which they name Xizang, as interference in inside Chinese language issues.
“We urge the U.S. facet to completely acknowledge the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honor the commitments the U.S. has made to China on points associated to Xizang, cease sending the mistaken sign to the world,” the Chinese language Embassy in New Delhi mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday night time.
At a public perform on Wednesday after the assembly with the Dalai Lama, Mr. McCaul mentioned Chinese language officers had despatched the delegation a letter “warning us to not come right here.” He mentioned the USA stood with Tibet in what he referred to as its proper to self-determination. “America, the gorgeous, will help Tibet to stay a robust drive as at all times,” he mentioned.
U.S. officers have typically met with the Dalai Lama, 88. Ms. Pelosi’s presence within the delegation, nonetheless, introduced reminders of her 2022 journey to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its territory, when she was nonetheless speaker of the Home.
That contentious go to, which raised fears throughout the Biden administration of additional deteriorating an already frosty relationship with Beijing, led to a pointy response from China, together with commerce restrictions on Taiwan and army workout routines close to the island.
The go to to India additionally comes as Washington and New Delhi deepen their relationship, motivated partly by the notion of a shared Chinese language menace. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, is in New Delhi this week, holding a number of rounds of talks with Indian officers on increasing protection and know-how cooperation.
These intensive discussions, coming weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a 3rd time period in workplace, point out how a lot Washington prioritizes the connection with India, with American officers more and more talking of New Delhi as a counterweight to Beijing.
Tenzin Lekshay, a spokesman for the Central Tibetan Administration, the federal government in exile, mentioned that Tibet’s scenario shouldn’t be seen via “the lens of accelerating rivalry between the U.S. and China,” however as a reminder of how the Tibetan lifestyle “is going through an existential menace” as China assimilates the area.
“We do hope that leaders of the free world will stand for the Tibet trigger, significantly stressing the Chinese language management to reinstall the dialogue to resolve the Sino-Tibet battle,” Mr. Lekshay mentioned.
