Russia gives Dalai Lama visa to visit; China upset

By Seattle Times news services

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

VIENTIANE, Laos — China criticized Russia yesterday over its decision to give the Dalai Lama a visa, the first Moscow has granted the Tibetan spiritual leader in a decade.

Russia, which has a million Buddhists, said Friday it would give the Dalai Lama a visa but reassured Beijing it was not supporting his demands for Tibetan autonomy.

"The Dalai is not a common religious personage, but a separatist," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters at a Southeast Asian leaders meeting in the Laos capital.

"China opposes any country having official contacts with him. We do not condone any country allowing him to use their land to engage in separatist activities or sow discord in China's relations with any other country," he said.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, leader of Russia's Buddhist region of Kalmykia, has invited the Dalai Lama every year since 1996 and threatened to take the government to court, saying its refusal to admit him is a violation of his people's religious rights.

The Russian foreign ministry previously has refused to grant him a visa, saying it could affect Russo-Chinese relations.

Russia made clear the visa did not imply any recognition of the Dalai Lama's desire for autonomy for Tibet.

China occupied Tibet in 1951 and claims the Himalayan region has been Chinese territory for centuries. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after an aborted uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and travels frequently to conduct Buddhist ceremonies and seek support for his campaign for Tibetan political and cultural rights.

Interfax news agency quoted a source in Kalmykia as saying the Dalai Lama, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, could arrive in regional capital Elista as early as tomorrow.

Kalmyk Buddhists have long wanted the Dalai Lama to consecrate a new monastery to replace ones destroyed by the Soviet government, which deported the Kalmyk people to Siberia and Central Asia for allegedly helping the Germans in World War II.
 
Ilyumzhinov has said he would expect 100,000 pilgrims to come to Kalmykia to see the Dalai Lama.

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, China has developed friendly ties with Russia and has become the No. 1 customer for Russian arms manufacturers. In 2001, Russia and China signed a friendship treaty affirming Russia's support for China's territorial integrity.