The Dalai Lama led prayers for victims of Taiwan’s deadliest storm in half a century at the beginning of a five-day visit that may test the country's relations with neighboring China.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was joined in the baking sun today by fellow monks in the southern village of Shiao Lin, where more than 300 people were buried under mudslides during Typhoon Morakot earlier this month. Over 500 people across the country have been confirmed killed by the three-day storm, which hit on August 6th.
While the Dalai Lama said he has no “political agenda” for the visit, China warned the trip could have a “negative influence” on its relations with Taiwan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The government in Beijing accuses the 74-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner of fomenting separatism for Tibet.
“Taiwan should have very close, unique links to mainland China because of the economy,” the Dalai Lama told reporters in Shiao Lin, when asked what advice he has for the nation. “You achieved democracy, that you must preserve.”
The future of Taiwan rests in the hands of its people, he added.
At Shiao Lin, the Dalai Lama and followers chanted prayers for the dead. Later in the afternoon, he led prayers for half an hour in Jiadong village, Pingtung county, as rain fell.
About a dozen people protested outside the Dalai Lama's hotel in the southern city of Kaohsiung during the morning, calling his visit a political exercise.
However, China has not criticised Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou directly over the visit, suggesting the country wants to keep relations on track.
Mr Ma has strengthened ties with China, the island’s biggest trading partner, since coming to office in May last year. The president agreed to the visit, organised by opposition politicians, as criticism that his government responded slowly to the storm’s devastation caused his popularity to slump.
The Dalai Lama flew to Taiwan late yesterday and arrived in Kaohsiung by train early this morning . While he declined to speak to the almost 100 waiting journalists gathered at the railway station, he thanked followers, smiling and pressing his palms in the traditional Buddhist greeting.
Bloomberg