(TibetanReview.net, Feb11, 2017) – China’s state-run Global Times newspaper has on Feb 9 warned overseas Indians with “political consequences” if they interfered in the country’s internal affairs, after a US university headed by an Indian-origin academic invited Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for a major Jun 2017 event. The invitation had earlier triggered protests from the university’s Chinese students based on Beijing’s stand and propaganda against the Tibetan leader.
It was earlier reported, Feb 2, that the University of California San Diego (UCSD) had invited the Dalai Lama to address the graduating students at their commencement ceremony in Jun 2017.
“By calling the Dalai Lama ‘the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people’ and ‘a man of peace,’ the UCSD has shown admiration for the Buddhist monk,” the paper said by way of making an allegation.
Although the Dalai Lama has visited a number of educational institutions in the USA headed by people will various ethnic roots over the years, the Chinese government newspaper maintained that the UCSD invitation had all to do with the Indian-ness of its head and saw an anti-China conspiracy behind it.
“What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian-American. The campus website posted a photo of Khosla who met the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, India, last October. This shows how some Indian-Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations,” the newspaper ranted.
The newspaper felt that Indian public organizations were picking up where New Delhi had left off. “In recent years, as Indian authorities gradually offset the support for the Dalai Lama, some public organisations supporting the Buddhist monk have become more active.”
In this connection, the Op-Ed also claimed, “Some Indians in European countries have also tried to lobby local officials for more opportunities for the Dalai Lama to speak to an international audience. With a clear knowledge of the Chinese government’s stance toward the issue, these Indians overseas are deliberately opposing China.” However, it did not give any instance of any such lobbying.
“India is a big country in terms of public diplomacy, but if some overseas Indians make it their business to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and treading on their sovereignty, they will bear the political consequences.” It did not say what the ‘political consequences might be.
The Op-Ed hurled a flurry of allegation against “the Indians”, saying: “Since modern times, the Indians have enjoyed unity bestowed by the British. They ramified Pakistan, annexed Sikkim, and exploited geopolitical interests from ethnic divisions in Sri Lanka and Nepal. If the Indians indulge in the obsession of intruding on the territorial integrity of China, China will not sit still.”
The Op-Ed attributed a role in the Dalai Lama-invite to the Donald Trump administration too, saying, “The US may have played a role in the UCSD invitation. The invitation was announced right after Rex Tillerson was sworn in as the US secretary of state. It may serve to echo Tillerson’s supportive stance toward Tibet’s ‘Government in Exile’ and the Dalai Lama.”