By JEFF SALLOT
OTTAWA – China is trying to blackmail Canada by hinting at economic retaliation for welcoming the Dalai Lama, says Liberal Senator Jim Munson, an eyewitness to Chinese mistreatment of the Buddhist holy man’s followers in Tibet 15 years ago.
In a Senate speech that targeted both his own government and China’s, Mr. Munson said yesterday that Prime Minister Paul Martin should not be afraid to talk politics with the Buddhist monk.
Christian leaders such as the Pope don’t confine themselves to spiritual discussions when they meet world leaders. “History has taught us that the views of religious leaders go well beyond the spiritual and very much into everyday realities.”
A former CTV correspondent in China, Mr. Munson said he saw Chinese police beating defenceless Buddhist monks in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. He also recorded their accounts of harassment by Chinese authorities. The police detained him for several hours and confiscated many of the videotapes his crew shot in Tibet, but they managed to smuggle some footage out.
Mr. Munson said he is puzzled by the fact that Mr. Martin has agreed to meet the Dalai Lama only as a spiritual leader. Mr. Munson, who was the director of communications for former prime minister Jean Chrétien, said Canadians need no lessons from Beijing on how to treat visitors to this country.
He said he was disappointed that the Department of Foreign Affairs has warned civic and provincial leaders that they should not allow their meetings with the Dalai Lama to be used in a way that may appear to recognize Tibetan sovereignty.
“It has been argued by some that meeting the Dalai Lama may affect our trade relations with China . . . this is nothing short of diplomatic blackmail. There should not be a price tag on human freedom.”
Mr. Martin is scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama in Ottawa Friday afternoon in a setting that was chosen to minimize the risk of being drawn into a political discussion of Tibet’s status. Mr. Martin will be one of the guests at the Roman Catholic archbishop’s residence to meet the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Buddhist monk at an ecumenical meeting of Ottawa-area religious leaders.
Many Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama as both a religious figure and head of state. In exile now for most of his life, the Dalai Lama remains a potent symbol for the Tibet independence movement.
Canada recognizes China’s claim to Tibet. Nevertheless, Beijing has issued statements denouncing the Dalai Lama’s visit, saying he is a separatist who is a threat to Chinese national unity in the way Quebec separatists threaten Confederation.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa had no immediate reaction to Mr. Munson’s speech or to comments Monday by British Columbia’s Lieutenant-Governor, Iona Campagnolo, praising the Dalai Lama’s fight for “political and spiritual freedom” in Tibet.
