British Prime Minister to meet Dalai Lama?

[London] The Dalai Lama "could meet the Foreign Office and have discussions about a range of issues with senior Ministers, including the Prime Minister" (1) during a visit to the UK scheduled for next year, according to UK Foreign Office Minister, Ian McCartney. The Minister was responding to a question in the House of Commons from Conservative MP, Paul Goodman, who had noted concern in the House of Commons as to "the lack of justice in Tibet" and had just asked Mr McCartney whether it would not be "appropriate" for the Prime Minister to meet the Dalai Lama on his next visit to Britain.
"We very much hope that Mr McCartney's statement yesterday indicates a shift in thinking by the British Government on Tibet," said Matt Whitticase of Free Tibet Campaign. "Tony Blair snubbed the Dalai Lama on his last trip to Britain (2) and, for reasons of political expediency, has constantly refused to condemn publicly China's human rights abuses in Tibet when meeting China's leaders. Meanwhile, the situation in Tibet is worsening, with defenceless Tibetan refugees being murdered by Chinese police last year on the Nepal border and the torture of Tibetan monks and nuns continuing. Tony Blair's silence on China's abuses in Tibet only encourages China to act with further impunity. It is high time therefore that the British Prime Minister, whoever he may be then, meets the Dalai Lama on his visit to Britain next year to demonstrate Britain's deep concern at China's repression of Tibet and its people."

Details of the Dalai Lama's visit to Britain have yet to be publicly announced.

Contact: Matt Whitticase 07904 063 746 or 020 7324 4605, email matt@freetibet.org.

Notes to Editor:

(1) The exchange followed a Parliamentary Question tabled by Liberal Democrat MP, Norman Baker, requesting an assessment from the Foreign Secretary on the human rights situation in Tibet and China. Click here for full text of the exchange on www.publications.parliament.uk

(2) Prime Minister Tony Blair refused requests for him to meet the Dalai Lama on the latter's last visit to Britain in 2004, citing "diary pressures".

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