Brown accused of disrespecting Dalai Lama
Gordon Brown is snubbing the Dalai Lama by meeting him in Lambeth Palace rather than Downing Street, the Free Tibet Campaign has said.
Downing Street says the choice of location for the Dalai Lama’s visit, which takes place later this month, is based on his status as a “respected spiritual leader” because Lambeth Palace acts as the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But Free Tibet activists argue the Dalai Lama is also the legitimate political leader of the Tibetan people and deserves a Downing Street reception.
“I think the important point is that the prime minister is meeting the Dalai Lama. Quite where he meets him is not really going to add anything of great substance to the fact of the meeting,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
But Tibetan campaigners point to the fact that Tony Blair and John Major both met the Dalai Lama in Downing Street as proof Gordon Brown is afraid of upsetting the Chinese ahead of the Olympics.
US president George Bush presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Medal of Honour when he was in America, and German chancellor Angela Merkel received him in her state office.
Anne Holmes, acting director of the Free Tibet Campaign, said meeting the Dalai Lama in Downing Street “would send a clear message to both the British and Tibetan people that the UK government is serious about its claims to want to see a peaceful, negotiated settlement”.
International interest in China’s involvement in Tibetan has recently been reignited by protests following the Olympic torch around the world.
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