The Chinese government has warned Taiwan against allowing exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama to visit. The Dalai Lama was invited by Freddy Lim, Taiwan’s prominent heavy metal singer and an outspoken China critic. Lim was elected to the Taiwanese parliament in January, this year and had met the spiritual leader in Dharamshala last week.
“The intention of some forces in Taiwan to collude with separatists seeking ‘Tibet independence’ and to create disturbances will have a severe impact on relations across the Taiwan Strait,” said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“We firmly oppose any form of visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama,” Ma added, while speaking during a press conference in Beijing.
The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, is considered a separatist by the Chinese after he fled into exile in India in 1959 following an abortive uprising against the Communist rule.
Over the last few years, relations between Taiwan and China have steadily declined. While the Chinese considers Taiwan its own, the new government in Taipei headed by President Tsai Ing-wen is all for an autonomous government. Taiwan’s former president Ma Ying-jeou, who favoured closer economic ties with China, refused the Dalai Lama entry several times since his last visit to Taiwan in 2009.
According to Taiwanese media, Foreign Minister David Lee on Tuesday told lawmakers in parliament that if the Dalai Lama decides to come, the ministry will review the matter carefully.