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Defiant Bush praises Dalai Lama
18/10/2007 07:38 - (SA)
Washington - President George W Bush on Wednesday called for an end to "religious repression" in China as he defiantly became the first US leader to appear in public with the Dalai Lama.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader accepted the Congressional Gold Medal, lawmakers' highest civilian honour, in a formal ceremony in the US Capitol's ornate Rotunda, certain to further enrage leaders in Beijing.
Bush praised the 72-year-old Buddhist icon for keeping the "flame" of Tibet's people alive, and called on Beijing to open political talks with him about the region's future.
"They will find this good man to be a man of peace and reconciliation," Bush said in the decorous room beneath the soaring dome of the US Capitol building, watched by lawmakers, Tibetan exiles and Buddhist monks.
"Americans cannot look to the plight of the religiously oppressed and close our eyes or turn away," Bush said.
"That is why I will continue to urge the leaders of China to welcome the Dalai Lama to China," said the president, in a ceremony broadcast live to China by radio, television and the internet by Voice of America.
'I feel a sense of regret'
The Dalai Lama reiterated that he was not seeking independence from China but wanted greater autonomy, and he said he was sorry that his presence in the United States had ruffled Sino-US relations.
"The consistency of American support for Tibet has not gone unnoticed in China," he said during the ceremony.
"Where this has caused some tension in the US-China relations I feel a sense of regret."
Bush had earlier provoked a fresh outburst of anger from Beijing, for his previous private meeting on Tuesday with the Dalai Lama, a style of encounter preferred by previous US presidents.
The Dalai Lama fled to India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, and currently lives in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, which is also the seat of his government in exile.
China has ruled Tibet since sending troops into the region in 1950, and officially "liberating" it from feudal rule a year later.
Severe violation of the norms
Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute to Bush for appearing at a live public event with the Dalai Lama.
"US presidents have met privately with the Dalai Lama for years, but it wasn't until today that any of them had lent the prestige of the office to a public event," McConnell said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had warned that Bush's private meeting with the Dalai Lama and the Congress ceremony represented "a severe violation of the norms of international relations".
He accused the United States of having "severely hurt" China's feelings and interfered in its internal affairs.
But Bush said he had given advance notice to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao about him attending the controversial ceremony honouring the Dalai Lama and that the Chinese leader was unhappy about the move.
"I have consistently told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation's interest," said Bush.
Past Congressional Gold Medal winners include former South African president Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk, tough-guy Western actor John Wayne, singer Frank Sinatra, and the late pope John Paul II.
- AFP
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