Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, says he will avoid Taiwan because relations between China and Taiwan are “quite delicate.” That statement came during an online press conference on Wednesday.
The Dalai Lama says that economically Taiwan gets “a lot of help” from China. However, he says that spiritually the Chinese people can learn a lot from Taiwan, where China’s ancient culture and traditions are preserved. He says he prays that China and Taiwan will be peacefully united one day.
The Dalai Lama lives in exile in India. He fled there after a failed uprising in Tibet against the Chinese takeover there. He says he is getting older, and would like to go back for a visit, but has no immediate plans to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The Dalai Lama says he does not know whether he or the Pope would visit China first. The Vatican is also known for occasionally signalling its readiness to appease Beijing in hopes of gaining access to the Chinese spiritual market.