China slams Dalai Lama visit to Arunachal Pradesh as provocation
Chinese officials have condemned a visit by Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed region administered by India along China’s Tibet region.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Wednesday that India clearly allowed the Dalai Lama and certain Indian officials to provoke Beijing during the Tibetan leader’s week-long trip to the eastern Himalayan region.
“The 14th Dalai Lama has long ago gone past the scope of a religious visit as claimed by India," Lu said in a regular briefing in Beijing, adding that the Dalai Lama and Indian officials expressed provocative “political theories” during the controversial trip.
Lu said India and the Dalai Lama’s position regarding the situation of Arunachal Pradesh and China’s Tibet region would not deter Beijing from protecting its territorial sovereignty.
“China has already made stern representations to India, and will take further measures to protect China’s territorial sovereignty and national security,” he said, adding that the Dalai Lama’s rhetoric “cannot in the slightest impact China’s position on the border and Tibet.”
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as “southern Tibet” and considers the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate, a dangerous separatist. India rejects the claims on sovereignty and says the spiritual leader has a devoted following in the region. The monk has repeatedly insisted that he espouses a genuine autonomy for Tibet while condemning any form of violence to that end. He reiterated during the recent trip that he wanted his followers to protect the Dalai Lama institution after his death.
The war of words over Tibet escalated last month when Pema Khandu, the Indian chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, said that India regarded the Tibet on the other side of the border as an independent region and not part of China.
"As far as the boundary issue is concerned, I have also maintained that we don't share our boundary with China, but we share our boundary with Tibet," Khandu said earlier in April.
The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 when Chinese troops launched a crackdown on those opposed to Beijing rule. China took control of Tibet in 1950 when troops marched into the area without facing any opposition.
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