Despite reports that the Dalai Lama had stated on Wednesday that the Chinese Government’s official attitude is more positive, a Foreign Ministry official said that Sri Lanka’s position regarding the Dalai Lama remained unchanged.
“Sri Lanka’s position on Tibet has not changed. The Sri Lankan government still refuses to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama,” a Ministry official said, adding that Sri Lanka wants to maintain cordial relations with mainland People’s Republic of China. The Dalai Lama was refused a visa to visit Sri Lanka during the Vesak celebrations, and this has been the case even previously.
The Dalai Lama who is in Dharmasala, India, after fleeing Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule is reported to have said he expected to return to China and Tibet at some point in the future.
When contacted by The Sunday Times regarding the statement made by the Dalai Lama, a senior official of the Chinese Embassy who did not wanted to be identified said, “The Dalai Lama issue is a Chinese national issue,” and added that China considered Sri Lanka to be one of it close friends and did not intervene in national issues and likewise Sri Lanka too should not intervene in the national issues of China.
The official said that it is a misconception that the Dalai Lama is a purely religious leader, and added that his objective was to separate Tibet from China.
“The Chinese government also wants the Dalai Lama to come back to Tibet. But we hope that the Dalai Lama will give up the attempt to separate Tibet from China,” he said.
Like your country which does not want to allow separatism, China too does not want to allow separatism, the official said. Two of the Dalai Lama’s envoys visited China late last month. It was the second visit made by them.
In the early part of the 7th century Buddhism came to Tibet from China and Nepal.
The Association for Sri Lanka – China Social and Cultural Co-operation last month stated in a release that apart from the 2000 Islam followers and 600 Catholics all others living in Tibet are followers of Tibetan Buddhism, also known as the Lama’s religion and is a part of Chinese Buddhism.
