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ANN ARBOR, Michigan: The Dalai Lama asked Washington for help Monday
in improving the situation in Tibet, in the highest level meeting
with the US administration since Beijing’s crackdown in his
homeland.
“At this moment we need your help,” the
saffron-robed spiritual leader told US special envoy on Tibet Paula
Dobriansky as they met in Michigan, adding that the issue of Tibet
was “very significant.”
Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for
democracy and global affairs, reiterated a US appeal for dialogue
between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, saying the Bush administration
“has expressed concern and has urged restraint” in the Himalayan
region.
“President [George W.] Bush steadfastly
supports the need for dialogue and today’s meeting offers an
opportunity to discuss Tibet with His Holiness,” she told
reporters.
The meeting was criticized by China, which
suggested that Washington was meddling in its internal affairs.
It was Dobriansky’s 12th meeting with the
Dalai Lama aimed at finding a way to resolve the Tibet issue
amicably, the State Department said.
“We want to hear from him about his ideas and
what he believes might be the next appropriate steps in this,”
said State Department Spokesman Tom Casey.
“We are certainly going to, of course, also
continue to have discussions with the government of China about
this.”
Beijing has for years held low-profile talks
with envoys of the Dalai Lama on questions related to Tibet but the
dialogue was suspended last summer.
The Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in
India since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959, arrived
in Seattle on April 10 on his first foreign trip since Beijing’s
crackdown.
-- AFP
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