Dalai Lama’s border region visit criticised
CHINA HAS criticised India for allowing the Dalai Lama to visit a disputed border region, saying it did not consider the matter a purely internal Indian affair and warned it would damage bilateral relations.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman said the visit by the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader “severely harms China’s interests and the China-India relationship”.
Hua Chunying rejected arguments that the trip was solely religious in nature, and said China would lodge a formal protest with New Delhi.
India “in disregard of China’s concerns, invited the Dalai Lama to visit the disputed border area between China and India”, Ms Hua said.
In doing so, she said India had violated its commitments to China on Tibet-related issues, a move that would “stir up troubles over the border issue and go against the sound development of bilateral ties”.
She said China adhered to the principle of not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, but the Dalai Lama’s visit “is not an internal matter anymore”.
India said on Tuesday that China should not interfere in its domestic issues, as the Dalai Lama began a week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh in the remote north-east area of the country.
The 81-year-old monk was greeted by cheering supporters as he arrived in the partly ethnically Tibetan Himalayan state that China claims as its own territory. Indian junior minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday that New Delhi respects Beijing’s “one China” policy and expects China to accept India’s policies.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an inseparable part of India and China should not object to the Dalai Lama’s visit and interfere in India’s internal affairs,” Mr Rijiju said.
The visit is the Dalai Lama’s seventh to Arunachal Pradesh.
The visit will stir up troubles over the border issue Hua Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman