(TibetanReview.net, Jul26’19) – A delegation of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has on Jul 25 paid a courtesy call on Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at his exile home in Dhartamsala to mainly offer greetings on his 84th birthday.
The delegation was made up of the party’s Secretary-General Mr Luo Wen Jia, spokesperson Mr Lii Wen and Director of Public Relation Mr Hsieh Yu-Li.
Luo has cited the Dalai Lama as saying China had no legitimate role in his reincarnation; that he will choose to reincarnate in a Buddhist country. He has not ruled out Taiwan, noting that it was a Buddhist country. The Tibetan leader was also cited as having expressed confidence to live to be more than 100 years old.
The Dalai Lama has called democracy the biggest strength of Taiwan.
“We mainly came here to express our good wishes to His Holiness’ health and wish him a happy birthday since his birthday just passed recently. As for whether His Holiness will come to Taiwan or not, we respect the decision of Tibetan people and of course of His Holiness himself,” DPP spokesperson Lii was quoted as saying.
The meeting was stated to have lasted more than an hour with the discussions being focused, among other things, on shared opinions on the nonviolent approaches to resolve the issue of Tibet and Taiwan. “Taiwan and Tibet should cooperate closely because we share same values and face the same threat,” DPA news agency Jul 26 quoted Luo as saying.
He has also said the DPP representatives and the Dalai Lama discussed the possibility to conduct more exchanges on issues ranging from religion to democracy.
The delegation toured the local Tibetan community from Jul 17 to 19, reported focustaiwan.tw Jul 25.
