WASHINGTON — Lawmakers honored the Dalai Lama with a human-rights award Tuesday even as President Barack Obama faced harsh criticism for delaying a meeting with the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama and Obama will not meet until after Obama visits Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing in November. China reviles the Dalai Lama and pressures foreign governments not to meet with him. The Obama administration, which needs Chinese support for crucial foreign policy, economic and environmental goals, wants to establish friendly ties between Hu and Obama during next month’s visit.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama gathered at the Capitol as the Tibetan monk was given an award in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos of California, a Holocaust survivor and champion of human rights.
The Dalai Lama said the award encourages him, at 74, to dedicate the rest of his life to the “promotion of human affection and compassion, and equality and basic human rights in Tibet, or in mainland China, or everywhere.”
Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said at the ceremony that “unless we speak out for human rights in China and in Tibet, we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights anywhere in the world.”
Many, however, urged Obama to host the Dalai Lama during his visit.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said in a speech in Congress that not inviting the Dalai Lama to the White House this week could lead to other foreign leaders who are worried about angering China brushing off similar chances to meet with him.
“I call on the president to stand side by side with His Holiness, a man of peace, and align America once again with the oppressed, not the oppressors,” Wolf said.
The Dalai Lama has met with the last three sitting U.S. presidents during his visits to Washington. Although China calls him a “wolf in monk’s robes” who seeks to split Tibet from the rest of China, the Dalai Lama says he merely wants genuine autonomy for Tibetans.
Obama must balance his efforts to develop ties with China with his desire to support the Dalai Lama. He also needs to overcome criticism that his administration is not doing enough to push Beijing to better address human-rights complaints.
