By SANDRA CORDON
OTTAWA – Considering its own unity struggles with separatist Quebec governments, Ottawa should know better than to encourage the Dalai Lama – an Asian separatist, the Chinese government charged Tuesday.
Officials with the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa condemned the decision by Paul Martin to become the first Canadian prime minister to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader.
The prime minister’s office announced Monday that Martin will meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits Canada later this month.
The link Chinese officials are making with Canada’s recurring unity problems indicate just how angry Beijing is about the entire visit.
“An audience given to the Dalai Lama by Canadian government officials will be a drastic departure from Canada’s current policy on the issue of Tibet and it will be construed by his followers as an encouragement of his separatist activities,” the embassy said in a statement.
“We hope Canada which has its own problem with Quebec will understand our position.”
Details of when and where Martin will meet the Dalai Lama are still being worked out, the Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday. The Tibetan leader arrives in Canada next Monday and will be in Ottawa from April 21 through 24.
The prime minister’s staff have insisted the meeting would be spiritual rather than political in nature.
Not good enough, said angry Chinese officials.
They have accused the Dalai Lama of being a separatist who has tried to undermine national Chinese unity.
“We are strongly opposed to the Dalai Lama’s planned visit and any meetings with Canadian officials,” the embassy statement said.
“The issue of Tibet is neither a religious issue nor an issue of human rights but rather a matter of principle concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Dalai Lama has led a peaceful campaign for Tibetan independence from China since fleeing into exile in 1959 and now lives in northern India.
For the Tibetan faithful, the Nobel prize winner represents hope for the restoration of nationhood crushed by Chinese troops who invaded and annexed Tibet in 1951.
Since then, China has outlawed the Buddhist religion and imprisoned hundreds of monks.
It’s not clear whether booming China, Canada’s fourth-largest export market, would retaliate by tightening trade links valued at about $20 billion annually in 2002.
Canadian exporters say they hope this tiff won’t hurt growing Canadian access to the massive Chinese economy, which grew at a blistering pace of 9.1 per cent last year and that much again in the first quarter of 2004, according to state media.
In dramatic contrast, Canada’s economy grew by 1.7 per cent last year.
But China’s ascension to the World Trade Organization in December 2001 means it must follow global trading rules that make it more difficult to bring politics into commercial relations, said Jay Myers, chief economist with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the country’s oldest trade association.
“China is a major, major trading partner and I certainly hope we don’t see any actions that would hurt that,” he said.
“But the Chinese market and our business links are strong enough to stand.”
Martin’s decision to meet the Dalai Lama marks a significant change from the stance of previous prime ministers, especially Jean Chretien who fought hard to improve trade links with China.
While Chretien has spoken out about human rights issues during trade missions to China, he always refused as prime minister to meet with the exiled Tibetan leader.
Other global leaders haven’t been so shy.
Both U.S. President George W. Bush and past president Bill Clinton have met with him.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also met with the Dalai Lama, although Blair has reportedly said he’s too busy for another session when the Tibetan is in Britain next month.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama say they hope Martin could become an honest broker to help arrange more talks between their spiritual leader and Chinese authorities on the future of Tibet.
But the Canada Tibet Committee insists that reflects the organization’s political agenda, not something the Dalai Lama is looking for.
They say he has told local supporters he doesn’t want to do anything to cause embarrassment to heads of states he visits.
