Dalai Lama visit tests Taiwan-China ties
By Cindy Sui
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan - Standing in the Kaohsiung Arena as the Dalai Lama, the
Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, led about 20,000 people in Buddhist prayers
and chanting, it is hard to think of politics. Many of the Taiwanese Buddhists
and Typhoon Morakot victims present held their hands together, closing their
eyes as they prayed and chanted with the Dalai Lama or looked up to him for
spiritual consolation and guidance. Others took notes or clasped Buddhist
prayer beads in their hands as they listened intently to the Tibetan "Living
Buddha".
Beijing strongly opposed the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan this week, slamming
it as politically motivated. The mainland government has long insisted that the
exiled Tibetan leader is a dangerous separatist who is bent on seeking Tibet
independence, even though the Dalai Lama has repeatedly said he simply wants
genuine autonomy for Tibet and Tibetan people.
Officials from Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
including the mayors and magistrates who are DPP members in southern Taiwanese
cities and counties, said they invited the Dalai Lama to come to offer comfort
for victims of Typhoon Morakot, which struck Taiwan last month, causing
widespread destruction in the south and killing more than 600 people, with
nearly 100 others still missing.
The Dalai Lama has insisted that there is no political agenda in his visit.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India following a failed uprising against
communist rule in 1959 and has been living in exile since. Any time he leaves
the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, and goes on
an overseas trip, the Chinese government protests. This time, he came to a
territory Beijing claims to be its own, making matters worse in China's eyes.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took a gamble by approving the Dalai Lama's
visit, risking the wrath of Beijing. He was also facing intense pressure from
the Taiwanese public over his administration's inefficient response to the
typhoon, the worst Taiwan has suffered in 50 years.
China warned that the visit could hurt its relations with Taiwan, which have
improved dramatically in the past year, with direct chartered flights launched,
increased tourism and plans to negotiate a free-trade agreement.
But China's response has been measured. While blaming the DPP for trying to
stir up trouble and trying to derail recent progress in cross-Taiwan Strait
relations by inviting the Dalai Lama to come to the island, Beijing has
refrained from criticizing Ma and his ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party.
Analysts said China was careful not to play into the hands of the DPP and not
to jeopardize hard-earned progress made in cross-strait relations since Ma came
to power in May 2008.
"Beijing doesn't have much room to maneuver. It's hard for them to accept Ma
Ying-jeou allowing the Dalai Lama to come here, but [Beijing] won't hurt
relations with Ma's government because of this," said Sun Yang-ming, vice
president of the Cross-Strait Interflow Prospect Foundation in Taiwan's
capital, Taipei.
"Beijing doesn't have an alternative. Now the best situation for [Chinese
President] Hu Jintao is that Ma Ying-jeou continues to rule. If relations with
Ma are bad, it could be very unbeneficial to Hu. The only other option would be
the DPP. Besides, they know Ma didn't actively pursue the Dalai Lama's visit."
Nonetheless, Beijing still had to show its anger; otherwise more visits by the
Dalai Lama could occur. The mainland plans to boycott the opening ceremony this
Saturday of the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, one of the largest sports events to be
held in Taiwan.
The mainland has also canceled or postponed several visits to Taiwan, including
that of a mainland banking delegation led by the vice governor of China's
central bank, Su Ning. The group was originally scheduled to arrive on Monday
to attend a seminar sponsored by the Taipei Foundation of Finance.
China also scrapped ceremonies to celebrate the expansion of cross-strait
regular direct flights.
Eager to preserve good relations, Ma sent a representative to Beijing to
explain his decision to allow the Dalai Lama to visit.
Interestingly though, China has not cancelled more important deals, such as the
expansion of direct flights. The number of flights has more than doubled from
108 to 270, and been categorized as scheduled flights - in what is seen as a
significant though symbolic move. In the past, these flights were arranged as
chartered flights. Making them scheduled signals that the transportation
arrangement between the two sides has become permanent.
Compared with China's response when the Dalai Lama visited France last year,
Beijing's reaction this time can be considered mild. When French President
Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama last year, China retaliated by
canceling a summit with the European Union.
Careful not to anger Beijing, Ma this week avoided the Dalai Lama and no ruling
KMT officials were seen publicly meeting with him.
The Dalai Lama, who was under pressure to refrain from discussing politics
during his visit, canceled a press conference as well as a public speech near
Taipei, and changed the venue for a public speech in Kaohsiung City to a much
smaller one.
Ma's spokesman has denied his itinerary changes were made due to pressure from
the government.
The Dalai Lama visited Taiwan in 1997 under then-president Lee Teng-hui's rule,
and in 2001 when former president Chen Shui-bian was in office. Both Lee and
Chen met him during his visits.
The visit this week shows the sensitive nature of Taiwan-China relations and
the deep divisions within Taiwanese society about how close a relationship
Taiwan should have with China.
Supporters of the visit believed Ma had absolutely no need to oppose it and
should not kow-tow to China. If he had turned down the visit, it would have
been seen as further evidence that this administration and the ruling KMT were
in bed with the mainland government and did not have Taiwan's best interests in
their minds. This would have justified fears the DPP has spread that Taiwan's
sovereignty will eventually be eroded under the KMT's policy toward Beijing.
"Ma Ying-jeou had no choice," said Andrew Yang, secretary general of the
Taipei-based Council of Advanced Policy Studies. "He has to take the political
risks to grant the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan because he has to take into
account domestic politics and political pressures and he is also facing the
December [local] elections" - when Taiwanese voters will elect mayors and
magistrates for cities and counties.
It was a high-stakes balancing act for Ma, and the biggest test of newly
improved cross-strait ties since he took office, analysts said. Any wrong move
during the visit, such as if Ma had met with the Dalai Lama, would have eroded
mainland leaders' trust in Ma and their confidence that he is a person with
whom they can negotiate.
Although the Dalai Lama was careful not to cause problems for the Ma
administration and Taiwan by keeping his visit relatively low profile, he
enjoyed a huge turnout at the public prayer meeting in the Kaohsiung Arena.
Other than a handful of small, isolated protests by pro-China groups,
supporters who turned out to greet him far outnumbered critics.
Almost everywhere he went, supporters gathered, hoping to get a glimpse of him,
especially in Taipei, where some kneeled on the high-speed railway platform,
putting their hands together in front of the train he was in while others held
flowers.
The reception he received, not from the Taiwanese government, but from
Taiwanese people, drowned out Beijing's strong criticisms of the visit.
Wang Min-liang, 29, who lost 14 members of his family in a mudslide that killed
nearly 500 people in Siaolin, the village worst affected by the typhoon, said
meeting the Dalai Lama at the village brought him comfort.
"My parents were killed in there, and so was my grandfather. I've been feeling
really distraught lately and haven't been able to go to work. When I found out
the Dalai Lama was coming here, I came here. I wanted the Dalai Lama to pray
for the people in our village. And I wanted to seek blessings from him," said
Wang.
The Dalai Lama spoke directly to Wang and a few other villagers.
"He told me life is actually very impermanent. He said he himself has been
through a lot of difficulties. He told me to be brave and to look to the
future. He encouraged me," Wang said.
Protesters shouted they did not want "Dalai Lama politics" and the "making use
of typhoon victims". Some held up signs outside the Kaohsiung hotel where the
Dalai Lama was staying, which read, "Taiwan, Tibet are inseparable parts of
China."
Protesters said the timing of the visit was not right and they feared it could
hurt Taiwan's relations with China.
"He should not have come at this time when we are witnessing a very politically
sensitive period. I believe the Dalai Lama, being so wise, should've known
that," said a protester who identified himself only by his surname Lo and who
said he had traveled from the northern Taiwanese city of Hsinchu to protest in
Kaohsiung. "His visit disrupts the trend of peace we've seen across the Taiwan
Strait. Of course it will have an impact on relations with China," he added.
The Dalai Lama's supporters standing outside the hotel shouted at the
protesters: "You Chinese, Go home!" while the protesters shouted back: "[You]
Taiwanese separatists!"
Dozens of police outnumbered the typically one to two dozen protesters outside
the hotel to prevent clashes between supporters and opponents of the visit.
The Dalai Lama left Taiwan on Friday, ending the week-long trip. Ma can now
breathe a sigh of relief. He has earned some points for daring to grant the
Dalai Lama an entry visa, against Beijing's objections, but has been criticized
somewhat for not meeting with him.
But this incident is a further indication that Ma - with the DPP, Beijing and
Taiwanese public closely monitoring his moves - will continue to have to strike
a balance between building stronger economic ties with China and easing fears
that Taiwan is losing its sovereignty under his rule.
Cindy Sui is a freelance journalist based in Taipei.
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