Dalai Lama quotes Mao in face of China's attack
Dalai Lama quotes Mao in face of China's attack
The Canadian Press
October 30, 2007 at 12:07 PM EDT
OTTAWA — With Beijing calling his Canadian visit “gross interference” in China's domestic affairs, the Dalai Lama shot back with a quote from Mao to insist that the country's Communist Party cannot survive without criticism.
Entering a meeting with leaders of all three federal opposition parties, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Bhuddists said societies without criticism are like fish without water — they cannot survive.
He said the Chinese Communist Party is no different.
The Dalai Lama pointed out that modern-day China is ruled by a one-party system and said the father of Chinese communism, Mao Zedong, insisted on criticism from both inside and outside the Communist Party.
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He called Chairman Mao's philosophy “very wise” but added that domestic criticism of the Chinese regime has been “wiped out.”
The Dalai Lama's highly publicized meeting in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary office on Monday has been criticized by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as “gross interference” in China's internal affairs.
Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with the meeting, saying China hopes Canada can “reflect on and correct the erroneous actions.”
The red carpet treatment was just the latest in a string of warm western welcomes for the Dalai Lama that have included meetings with U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Dalai Lama is lauded in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, but Beijing claims the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate seeks to destroy China's sovereignty by pushing for Tibet's independence.
China has ruled Tibet with a heavy hand since its forces invaded in 1951. The Dalai Lama, who fled Chinese rule for exile in northern India in 1959, remains immensely popular in Tibet and says he wants autonomy for the vast Himalayan region, not independence.
globeandmail.com: Dalai Lama quotes Mao in face of China's attack