John McCain to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Friday, 25 July 2008, 9:00 a.m.
Washington: Republican
presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that he would hold
talks on Friday with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual and
temporal leader, AFP reported Thursday.
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“I’ve been a great admirer of his … and look forward to
meeting an individual who is a transcendent international role model
and hero,” the White House hopeful said ahead of the meeting in Aspen,
Colorado.
“And I have admired him and respected him for the efforts he’s
made on behalf of freedom of the people of Tibet but also all over the
world,” McCain told reporters in Ohio, where he was to attend an event
on cancer later in the day with seven-time Tour de France winner Lance
Armstrong.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be speaking Friday at a
three-day seminar at the Aspen Institute in Colorado that will bring
together scholars, teachers and others to explore Tibet’s history and
culture, the Washington Post reported.
McCain, who has criticized China’s crackdown on human rights in
Tibet, already had a speech scheduled in Denver, and will then fly to
Aspen for a private meeting with the Tibetan leader, the report said.
He said the talks His Holiness the Dalai Lama were “mutually agreed
to.”
McCain, as is the case with many American politicians, has been
a strong critic of China’s crackdown on human rights in Tibet, and
suggested that President Bush consider boycotting the opening
ceremonies of the Bejing Olympics next month (the president is going
anyway).
McCain issued a statement in March saying the “unfolding
tragedy in Tibet should draw the attention of the entire world” and
called His Holiness the Dalai Lama “a man of peace who reflects the
hopes and aspirations of Tibetans.”
