THE Dalai Lama insisted today he supports China's hosting of the Olympics in August, despite international condemnation of the country's handling of anti-government riots in his native Tibet.
The Dalai also told reporters during a flying visit to Tokyo on his way to Seattle that his forthcoming visit to the United States had nothing to do with politics.
"I support China hosting the most famous world games," the Dalai Lama said. "My vis
it to the United States is... essentially non-political."
The Buddhist spiritual leader arrived at Tokyo's main international airport and was quickly escorted to a nearby hotel, where he held a news conference before he was to travel to the United States to give a lecture.
Protests have been held in cities around the world in a show of sympathy for Tibet, where anti-government riots erupted last month.
Chinese authorities, concerned about unrest ahead of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, have tightly restricted access to Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China where protests also broke out.
The sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations were the largest among Tibetans in almost two decades.
The Dalai Lama, whom Beijing claims has fomented the unrest, has called for calm, but the protests have shown little sign of abating.
Japan's government has been relatively quiet about the violence in Tibet and, out of deference to Beijing, does not deal officially with the Dalai Lama.
Tokyo does, however, grant visas to the spiritual leader, who has visited Japan fairly frequently. Buddhism is one of Japan's main religions, along with the indigenous Shinto faith.
No meetings were planned between the Dalai Lama and government officials although Japanese media said the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would meet him. Neither Mr Abe's office nor the Dalai Lama's liaison office in Tokyo could confirm the reports.
More than a dozen Buddhist monks protested yesterday in front of visiting journalists at a monastery in western China to call for the return of the exiled Tibetan leader.
The monks, whose numbers grew to about two dozen during the 10-minute incident, shouted slogans in Tibetan in an outer courtyard as journalists entered a prayer hall at the Labrang monastery in western Gansu province bordering Tibet.
The incident followed a similar interruption during a closely scripted government media tour of Tibet's capital of Lhasa two weeks ago to view damage from anti-government riots that erupted there last month.
Other protests have been held in Paris, London and San Francisco along the route of the Olympic torch relay, prompting concerns that it could be shortened or possibly cancelled in some areas to avoid violence.
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959.
The full article contains 463 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
