On October 16, the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. Despite this great honor, China’s government has protested it, accusing the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for the Himalayan region of China.
Before, the leaders of Germany, Canada, Australia, Austria, and the US have been cautious about meeting with the Dalai Lama and upsetting China. However, currently the leaders have met with him or have said they will. This is partly because of the pressure for their electorates and it’s also politically correct that leaders should meet with a holy, honorable, and respectable man. But China opposes the high honor given to the Dalai Lama because it considers the US using the Dalai Lama as a way to interfere in China’s internal affairs.
There are a couple current events that have been happening in China. Currently, there has been a flare-up of unrest in Tibet. During a weeklong festival, a man climbed up on stage and called for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet, and was later arrested. China originally thought it had unrest under control; however, this was proven obviously incorrect.
I agree with the US awarding the Dalai Lama with the highest Congressional honor. I think it is important to recognize people who do good deeds in the world. It is important to show support for a man who represents freedom, democracy, and independence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I disagree... I don't think people focused on one of the more pressing issue with giving the Dalai Lama this award. Buddhists believes that one should not hold on to material things, such as awards, which does not last through life times but causes sorrow and suffering.
I did not hear this argument in the news on npr. And maybe I'm wrong (and this does not necessary relate to China all that much, maybe), but I thought that this was really important.
I'm sick of all the countries being so arrogant. The US awards the Dalai Lama for being the Dalai Lama and China thinks we're sending them a message. It's just like Turkey getting offended when the US wants to declare that the Armenian genocide occurred. I know that there are higher things that cause tension between countries, but is it naive to say that such resentment is silly?
Sorry, no anonymous posts.
Post a Comment