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Dutch PM refuses to meet Dalai Lama

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Published Date: 05 June 2009
THE Dalai Lama was in the Netherlands yesterday for a three-day visit during which he will give lectures and meet Dutch Buddhists – but not the prime minister.
While other European leaders have met with the Tibetan spiritual leader, incurring the displeasure of China's government, Jan Peter Balkenende declined.

The Dutch foreign minister will meet privately with the Dalai Lama and Mr Balkenende said he would have "nothing to add".

"That's no problem, I don't have a political agenda," the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said.

He has been to Denmark, where he met the prime minister, and is due to visit France. China objects to all meetings between the Dalai Lama and foreign leaders.





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  • Last Updated: 04 June 2009 9:48 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Mashimaro,

China 05/06/2009 00:10:54
I wonder if he would meet other con artists
2

,

05/06/2009 01:15:50
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3

Conan,

Valparaiso 05/06/2009 01:32:30
Jan Peter Balkenende = Coward
4

Carolyn 1,

05/06/2009 03:08:14
His Holiness was in Boston last month and spoke to a packed Gillette Stadium, sold out.

MIT opened the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics, and he spoke there to students.
-That scientists may not believe in religion or God, but they're honest and ethical, and this makes them compassionate people. And if you have compassion you have a calm mind.
He asked the students to make a different bullet...one that misses innocent people

With statements and beliefs like that maybe that's why politicians, and Mr.Balkenende, find excuses to not meet him.
Plus he calls China an autocratic communist capitalist country
5

,

05/06/2009 03:09:53
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6

,

05/06/2009 03:14:31
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7

Jim A,

05/06/2009 06:19:12
#2 Scotsman "The Dutch have always had more class than the rest of the West."

Geez lol, you crack me just great, the Dutch do something you like and it's all "Aye,best in the west them Dutch BS. Man your good, really good, I couldn't make that cack up if I tried.
8

billalba,

fife 05/06/2009 13:04:03
joe, the dalai lama is a great man who was deposed by the cruel and unjust chinese....lets hope that the chinese see sense and let tibet leave their corrupt empire.
9

Yok Finney,

Ross-shire 05/06/2009 13:26:42
If you're putting labels on a bottle, an autocratic communist capitalist country is a fair description of China. Would he describe the UK as a destitutional monarchy with Scotland as a neo-feudalist relic? The EU is a corporate directorship and the USofA is a failed republic. Though nothing can be too autocratic for the Dalai.

Humans should do better and organise a better society out the current chaos.
10

Dragonhead,

Dalian,China 05/06/2009 15:07:07
#8billalba,fife. "deposed" horse putty, mule fritters! The man did a runner after a so called failed uprising. He went into exile of his own volition. Like activists the world over, he is despised by the Chinese.Not because he is anti-China, but because he ran off and left his people after leading them in an uprising.
Like Nelson Mandela, who was a "terrorist" by any other name. The title Dalai is a Chinese honour bestowed on the 5th and subsequent Lamas!
The drivel put out by activists is contradicted by historical fact. The instigators of the present day problems in Tibet, were the Colonial Government of Great Britain in India.They are the original cause of the present day continuing trouble in Tibet. If the Chinese had signed a treaty with the north of England granting them independence from UK without the authority of the British Government.Would the British have left it at that? Hypocrites!
Tibet is Chinese,the Dalai Lama himself has changed his tune almost as often as Obama.
11

Dragonhead,

Dalian,China 05/06/2009 15:13:28
#7 JimA.Geert Wilders the Dutch MP has more balls than all the present British Government put together on Muslim extremism.
Not one Government on the planet has recognised the Tibetan so called 'Government in Exile'Strange that.
The Dalai Lama himself wants more autonomy WITHIN CHINA, not outside it! Only those aristocrats and their puppets want independence.Then it will be back to the repressive feudal autocracy they had previously.Believe me, that is not what the majority of Tibetans want.
12

Jim A,

05/06/2009 15:49:44
#7 Dragonhead, aye fair enough but I was cracking up at Posty's "Classy" statement, how many Dutchmen does he know?
13

mike - across the pond,

ah dragonhead.... 05/06/2009 16:43:43
some small problems with your tirade...

1. the Dalai Lama left Tibet... fair enough... but apparently you are ignoring the fate of those who decided to "tough it out"... do you dispute the FACT that THEY ended up very dead...

2. what cover do the chinese have for destroying the culture in Tibet??? it is simply CRIMINAL what they did... there is no recovering what they destroyed...

3. "The Dalai Lama himself wants more autonomy WITHIN CHINA"... WELL DUH!!!! the Dalai Lama is asking for something that he might actually have SOME hope of getting... I'm QUITE sure that he would RATHER have a Bhutan like governance, but I'm quite sure he'd settle for being able to "go home"...

4. "what the majority of tibetans want"... would those be the "historical Tibetans"... or those who were moved to Tibet by the Chinese in the last 50 years???

5. and pray tell... what exactly is it that Tibet has that China cant do without?
14

Yok Finney,

Ross-shire 05/06/2009 17:26:40
High ground. A strategic location. If some other power ran Tibet, they might put missiles on it.
15

,

05/06/2009 17:48:04
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16

Yok Finney,

Ross-shire 05/06/2009 18:21:10
When Scotland declares independence, will China support us against the remnants of the colonial government of great britain?
17

mike - across the pond,

yok 05/06/2009 19:20:03
high ground?

missiles?

I think you have missiles confused with artillery...

and artillery has a range of only a couple dozen miles...

Tibet is HUNDREDS (if not the better part of THOUSANDS) of miles from anywhere that means anything in China....

heck, if THAT was their worry, then they should be much more worried about Bhutan than Tibet... Bhutan being several hundred miles closer to the more densly populated parts of China... and with a strikingly similar geograpical location...

speaking of Bhutan, when is it China is going to GET OUT of Bhutan? Mashi, Posty, Dragonhead?
18

,

06/06/2009 16:17:10
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19

Finlang,

Hong Kong 06/06/2009 20:11:49
#7 Jim A

LMAO!! Brilliant.
20

Finlang,

Hong Kong 07/06/2009 03:49:51
... and Dennis says Hi (in Scots of course)!
21

Mashimaro,

China 07/06/2009 05:41:51
This is a con artist, pure and simple. One that thousands of people have bought into.
Politics aside, folks, why should any progressive, clear thinking country entertain a chalatan. This man is a CIA stooge. He sells people the idea of reincarnation. But oops, the boy he identified as one of the reincarnated lamas has decided he actually doesn't want to be Buddhist. Bit of a clanger.
22

Mashimaro,

China 07/06/2009 05:50:03
#13 same old same old eh...

1 Those who decided to stay behind still tried to impose the feudal system on the country and died for their efforts. The average Tibetan is far better off today because their attempts failed.

2. If the terrorists hadn't used the temples as coverage they might have survived. But not all was destroyed and currently Beijing spends millions on keeping and restoring the culture. Like we keep on telling you... things have changed.


3. I'm sure he would love to h ave his feudal power back. Luckily we won't let him do that to our people. It would be nice if he stopped having parents send him their sons, but I guess you can't have everything.

4. They would be the historical Tibetans. You people seem to forget that the Dalai Lama and the CIA represent a small ruling clique. They used to have slaves and let their people starve to death. For a western country that has worked so hard to separate church and state I wonder why it is that suddenly westerners want a theocracy.
5. Tibet has that China cant do without?
Have you looked at the size of Tibet? You think it is just some tiny little country in the middle of the mountains? It's a whole ear of the moose that is China.
But since you asked what it has... the answer is pretty simple... water.

I've answered these questions so many times it amazes me that you have managed not to see the answers.
23

Mashimaro,

07/06/2009 05:51:50
wait...wait... where's the cankers screeching about freeing the panchen lama... why doesn't she screech about freeing ALL the lamas - from buddhism

 

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