By KUNA,
London : The Dalai Lama was continuing Thursday to lobby the UK over the plight of his homeland at a meeting with a high level body of MPs. The Tibetan leader-in-exile was discussing the human rights situation in the Chinese autonomous region at a session with the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee, the MPs said.
On the third day of a high-profile tour, the 73-year-old Buddhist monk is also due to meet with the heir to the British throne Prince Charles and deliver a lecture at the Royal Albert Hall, in central London.
The Dalai Lama arrived in the UK last Tuesday for a high profile 11-day tour of Britain, the first such visit since 2004.
Yesterday during a press briefing in Parliament, he called on the British Government not to forget Tibet in its quest to forge stronger relations with China.
He told MPs “The economy is important, but human values are more important. Human issues like human rights.
“While you are making close relationship in the business field, there is no point in forgetting about principles.” He deftly deflected controversy surrounding his forthcoming meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The pair are due to meet tomorrow, but at Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, in central London, and not 10 Downing Street.
The arrangements have drawn criticism from those who claim it indicates that the Dalai Lama’s political role is being sidelined.
Yesterday, the Dalai Lama insisted that the trip had always been “non-political”.
“The media have politicised it,” he said.
The Dalai Lama told BBC domestic radio this morning people should not boycott the Beijing Olympics if they felt being there could help change things in China.
“The world should take this opportunity to remind the Chinese government of its poor record on human rights and religious freedom and the environment,” he said.
“If individuals feel the best way to remind them (is to) not attend, then do it. If they feel to talk and meet with Chinese leaders is more effective then go there.” He added that the authorities’ reaction to the Sichuan earthquake was “one sign that the People’s Republic of China is changing, I think at least decade by decade. Hopefully now (this will) lead to a more transparent attitude in other fields, including the Tibet case.”