US Senator Slams Chinese gov’t paper for threatening UC San Diego, Chancellor over Dalai Lama invite

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Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Dianne Feinstein

(TibetanReview.net, Jun24, 2017) – A senior US senator has on Jun 22 criticized the Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times newspaper for a recent editorial which threatened the University of California San Diego and its Chancellor Pradeep Khosla for having invited the Dalai Lama to deliver the commencement address on Jun 17. The senator, Dianne Feinstein, asked the paper to retract its pugnacious Jun 20 editorial.

“I find it unconscionable that a reporter for the Global Times, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, would threaten UC San Diego and its chancellor and students for inviting the Dalai Lama to speak,” the senator said in a statement.

She demanded that “the newspaper should immediately apologize and retract the article that not only threatens to withhold visas from Chancellor Pradeep Khosla but also suggests the university would be punished by withholding students.”

In its editorial, the Global Times had said Khosla must bear the consequences for inviting the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate. The highly vitriolic editorial also suggested that China should “not issue visas to the chancellor and not recognize diplomas or degree certificates issued by the university in China.”

Senator Feinstein described as patently false the Global Times editorial’s portrayal of the Dalai Lama. She said, “I’ve known the Dalai Lama for more than 25 years and was directly involved in the latest discussions between him and the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama doesn’t wish to separate Tibet from China. Rather, he strives for greater autonomy so Tibetans may freely practice their faith.”

Dianne Feinstein, 84, is the senior United States Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as the 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.

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