New Delhi: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita of the US House of Representatives, Wednesday took aim at Chinese President Xi Jinping, asserting that the “Dalai Lama’s legacy will live forever” despite Beijing’s efforts to erase Tibetan culture. Her comments came following a meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader in Dharamshala.
“The Dalai Lama with his message of knowledge, tradition, compassion, purity of soul and love, he will live a long time and his legacy will live forever. But you, President of China, you will be gone and nobody will give you credit for anything,” said Pelosi, Democratic lawmaker, while speaking at a public felicitation hosted by the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamshala.
Pelosi is part of a high-level bipartisan US House of Representatives delegation which met with the Dalai Lama Wednesday at his home in Himachal Pradesh, despite condemnation from China a day earlier.
“Just this week, our delegation received a letter from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) warning us not to come here… but we did not let the CCP intimidate us, for we are here today,” said Michael McCaul, Republican lawmaker and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The key theme reinforced by the US legislators was the “Resolve Tibet Act”, which was passed last week by the US Congress.
The bill urges China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama without precondition, to resolve the long-standing issues between Beijing and Tibet. The bill now requires the signature of US President Joe Biden to become law.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian Tuesday urged Biden to not sign the bill and for the US to honour its commitments made to Beijing on Tibet during a regular press briefing. Beijing refers to Tibet as Xizang.
“It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion… Xizang’s affairs are purely China’s domestic affairs and no external interference will ever be allowed,” said Lin.
“The US must not sign the bill into law. China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” he added.
McCaul confirmed to the media Tuesday that Biden would soon sign the bill. The same was reiterated Wednesday during the public felicitation. A copy of the bill was handed over to the Dalai Lama by the delegation.
US officials have in the past too visited the Dalai Lama. However, the presence of Pelosi — who as Speaker of the US House of Representatives was once third in line of precedence after the US President and Vice President — in this delegation is contentious.
In 2022, as the Speaker of the House, Pelosi led a delegation to visit Taiwan, the self-governing territory that the US recognises as part of China. Beijing’s response was swift, as it imposed restrictions on trade and military exercises conducted around the territory.
Ties between the US and China, two of the world’s largest economies, remain frosty, with efforts being made by the Biden administration to stabilise the relationship.
Every US president except Donald Trump and Biden has met with the Tibetan spiritual leader in the last three decades. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and has lived in India since.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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