Free us all from hypocrisy

RElIgIOn and politics rarely mix easily. That truth is no more evident than in the shadow dancing by the Scottish government around the visit to Scotland of the Dalai lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. The political fact that Tibetans would dearly like their country to be free of Chinese military occupation would, you might think, strike a chord with SnP ministers who want Scotland to be politically freed from its much bigger neighbour.

But no. Scotland’s First Minister happens to be abroad, and the SnP provost of Dundee has found he needs to attend a funeral rather than be present when the Dalai lama speaks in his city, this after having had a recent chat with the Chinese consul-general. SnP ministerial diaries also seem to be full of other more important engagements.

It all seems rather convenient. Alex Salmond’s deputy, nicola Sturgeon, protests that it is nothing to do with the trade and cultural agreements that the government wishes to strike with China, or the delivery of two Chinese pandas to Edinburgh Zoo. It is simply because the Dalai lama is making a pastoral visit to his Scottish followers and that they are just emulating the example of UK ministers who are also not meeting him.

given that the Prime Minister and his deputy met the Dalai lama in May, these excuses look like hypocrisy.

There can be little doubt that the Tibetans have a right to selfdetermination and that the Chinese should not be occupying their country. The fact we believe in the right to self-determination should be asserted by our government welcoming the Dalai lama even in the face of disapproval from the Chinese government.