Dalai Lama Says He’s ‘Optimistic’ About Changes China Is Making
Two men forced into exile by Beijing met Saturday, drawing strength from each other and finding common ground.
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of 6 million Tibetans, met Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng and a group of China scholars for two hours before addressing a packed auditorium at Brandeis University near Boston.
The Dalai Lama told the audience of more than 8,000 that he was grateful for the chance to visit with Wei and the others. “They’re really showing their sympathy and spiritual solidarity with us,” he said.
China invaded the small Himalayan country in 1950 and forced the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of Tibetans to flee in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Beijing also clamped down on Tibetan culture and religion. Carrying a picture of the Dalai Lama is illegal in Tibet.
But speaking first through an interpreter and then in what he called “poor English,” the Dalai Lama said, “I’m basically very optimistic. . . . China is in the process of changing very rapidly.
“I am seeking autonomy, not independence, not complete separation from China,” the 62-year-old saffron-robed Nobel Peace Prize winner said. Beijing has refused to renew talks with the Dalai Lama, maintaining that he wants complete independence.
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