Dalai Lama denied visa for South Africa peace conference

[LaoSexMachine]

Dalai Lama denied visa for South Africa peace conference



Story Highlights
Spokesman: "Not in South Africa's interest for him (Dalai Lama) to attend"
South Africa says it is worried focus will switch away from 2010 World Cup
It added South Africa has gained much from its trading relationship with China
Fellow laureate Desmond Tutu said he would boycott the conference

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- South Africa has refused the Dalai Lama a visa to attend an international peace conference in Johannesburg this week, a presidential spokesman said.
The Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel Laureate did not receive a visa because it was not in South Africa's interest for him to attend, said Thabo Masebe.
South Africa thinks that, if the Dalai Lama attended the conference, the focus would shift away from the 2010 World Cup -- the global soccer championship it will host next year.
"We cannot allow focus to shift to China and Tibet," Masebe said, adding that South Africa has gained much from its trading relationship with China.
The Dalai Lama's (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/dalai_lama) fellow laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/archbishop_desmond_tutu), said he would boycott the event.
Former president F.W. De Klerk (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/f_w_de_klerk), another laureate, backed Tutu, saying in a statement that he would also not participate in the conference if the Dalai Lama remained excluded.
De Klerk said that the decision to refuse the visa made a "mockery" of the peace conference.
"The decision to exclude the Dalai Lama is irreconcilable with key principles on which our society is based including the principles of accountability, openness and responsiveness and the rights to freedom of expression and free political activity," he said.
"South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democracy and should not allow other countries to dictate to it regarding who it should, and should not admit to its territory - regardless of the power and influence of the country."
A representative of the Dalai Lama said he was not surprised by the decision. The Tibetan government in exile thinks that China has pressured many countries to refuse a visit by the Dalai Lama, according to Chhime Chhoekyapa, an aide in Dharamsala, India.
The Dalai Lama fled China (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/China) in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
The peace conference was billed as an opportunity to showcase South Africa's (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/South_Africa) role as a human-rights champion ahead of its hosting of soccer's World Cup next year.
It was to bring together Noble Laureates and top soccer officials. In addition to Tutu and De Klerk, laureates Nelson Mandela (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/nelson_mandela) and Martti Ahtisaar, Sepp Blatter, president of soccer's international governing body, and actress Charlize Theron were invited to attend. The event had the blessing of the Nobel Committee.
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Find this article at:
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/03/23/south.africa.dalai.lama.visa/index.html (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/China)

[Ordie]

It is time to ressurrect the South African divestment movement.

[epictetus]

Sick. The news out of SA just keeps getting better

[gaijinsamurai]

x2, Ordie. But somehow, I kinda doubt the same amount of middle/upper-middle class college lefties will get enthused this time.

[IraGlacialis]

"We cannot allow focus to shift to China and Tibet," Masebe said, adding that South Africa has gained much from its trading relationship with China.And I guess blocking the Dalai Lama's access will just make the whole issue vaporise, right? :|

[Ordie]

And I guess blocking the Dalai Lama's access will just make the whole issue vaporise, right? :|

Thanks to the South African ban on the Dalai Lama, I would not have known about the conference and attendees.

[Shuimo]

Thanks to the South African ban on the Dalai Lama, I would not have known about the conference and attendees.
Me too!
I guess it is media hype!

[ren0312]

It is time to ressurrect the South African divestment movement.

Congratulations for supporting the effort of Africans to blow up their own oil industry.

[Ordie]

Congratulations for supporting the effort of Africans to blow up their own oil industry.

You're too young to remember.

Back in the 1980's during the South African Aparthied Government. There was a major movement in the United States to boycott and divest from companies doing business in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner for two decades and Rev. Desmond Tutu recieved the Nobel Peace prize in advocating against Aparthied.

The divestment movement further isolated the Aparthied Government and drawn attention towards that country's segregation policies. The divestment movement (started in Berkeley California) is credited towards democratic changes in South Africa.

South Africa struggle, quest for equality, truth and reconciliation has set itself as a prime example of peaceful transistion and co-existance. Given the rejection of the Dalai Lama under pressure from Beijing, sets a negative precedence on South Africa's part.

Moreover, South Africa is unique in that it upholds Human Rights in its constitution. But given its lack of moral courage in Zimbabwe, Burma and now with the Dalai Lama, one should question the legitimacy of the ANC government.

[Dinges]

Congratulations for supporting the effort of Africans to blow up their own oil industry.

We have one?


The ANC is in a virtual stranglehold by the SACP. Most leaders in the ANC are either card carrying members of the SACP or are very sympathetic to cause.

[ren0312]

We have one?


The ANC is in a virtual stranglehold by the SACP. Most leaders in the ANC are either card carrying members of the SACP or are very sympathetic to cause.

Was there not a sabotage on a coal to gas plant sometime in the 1980's, I forgot the name of the plant.

[Ordie]

When it comes to the Dalai Lama, I often wonder if China and now South Africa are its own worst public relations enemy.

Snubbing of Dalai Lama cynical, self-defeating



SECURITY forces patrolled the streets of the Tibetan town of Rabgya yesterday after a weekend protest led to the detention of nearly 100 monks as the region commemorated the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
This news snippet, summarised from a routine AFP wire report, would ordinarily have disappeared into the ether without getting much coverage. People the world over are generally too wrapped up in the daily grind to pay much attention to blow-by-blow accounts of China’s five-decade occupation of an obscure part of the Himalayas.
But today the plight of the Buddhist monks of Rabgya will surely get at least some international media coverage — and many thousands of South Africans will discover for the first time that China’s occupation of Tibet has long been a controversial international issue — as a direct result of the South African government’s extraordinary decision to refuse exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama a visa to enter the country.
They will learn that the minister-counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Pretoria has confirmed that his government urged SA not to allow the Dalai Lama entry at this time because it coincides with the 60th anniversary of China’s occupation of Tibet. And, coming only days after China established an office in Johannesburg to disburse almost R50bn in funds it has allocated for investment in Africa, eyebrows will be raised at the South African government’s insistence that the decision had nothing to do with China’s appeal but was intended to avoid media attention being diverted away from the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
It is true that the Dalai Lama was invited by his South African fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk, to address a peace conference with a somewhat tenuous link to the World Cup. But are we really expected to believe that nobody at foreign affairs foresaw that snubbing such high-profile individuals in this way might attract adverse media coverage and ensure that the Tibet issue not only distracted from the purpose of the conference but became front-page news around the world?
Of course they did, because foreign affairs employs some smart people who have vast experience in such matters. They just didn’t care — or rather they cared more about how the Chinese government would respond than about the effect it might have on SA’s international standing.
Such cynicism has become the hallmark of South African diplomatic policy, leaving analysts at a loss because it seems so obviously self-defeating, especially since China is not a particularly large investor in SA. In fact, with SA accounting for more than 20% of its exports to Africa and supplying a good deal of the commodities it needs to keep its economy growing, it could be argued that China needs SA more than we need them.

Source:http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A965679

[Dinges]

Was there not a sabotage on a coal to gas plant sometime in the 1980's, I forgot the name of the plant.

Sasol. But we are still a nett importer of oil.

[R/cst]

China praises countries that shun Dalai Lama

24 March 2009, 12:01

Beijing - China expressed appreciation on Tuesday for countries that shun the Dalai Lama, a day after South Africa denied the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader an entry visa.

"All countries should respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and oppose Tibetan independence. We appreciate relevant countries' measures," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, without specifically mentioning the South African move.

South Africa said on Monday that the Dalai Lama was denied a visa to travel to Johannesburg for a meeting with other Nobel laureates out of concern that his visit would overshadow preparations for the 2010 football World Cup.

The Dalai Lama was billed to attend a conference backed by the Nobel Peace Committee and hosted by South Africa's three surviving laureates, former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Nobel peace prize committee said it would not participate unless the Dalai Lama, the 1989 peace prize laureate, was allowed in. Both Tutu and De Klerk also have said they would no longer attend, casting doubt on the meeting.

China's minister counsellor at the embassy in Pretoria, Dai Bing, was quoted by South African media as saying that his government had urged South Africa to deny the visit or risk damaging bilateral relations.

Qin, the foreign ministry spokesman, declined comment when asked about China's role.

China vehemently opposes any overseas activities by the Dalai Lama, whom it considers a separatist seeking independence for his Himalayan homeland. He denies such charges.

He angered China earlier in March by marking the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising with a speech saying Chinese control had turned Tibet into a "hell on earth." - Sapa-AFP

http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20090324115134516C657021 (http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20090324115134516C657021)



China the new Masters of africa.

How do you say Ja Baas in chinese?

[R/cst]

Peace conference postponed
24 March 2009, 12:29
The Johannesburg peace conference due to be held this Friday has been postponed because of the withdrawal of Nobel Peace Prize winners and the Nobel Peace committee after the SA government denied a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend.

Ian Macfarlane of the South Africans Friends of Tibet hailed the decision as a "victory for ubuntu and democracy in South Africa and worldwide. But now the real work begins."

He said that thousands of South Africans and others had expressed their outrage against the government's decision to withhold a visa to the Dalai Lama in an online petition which his organisation had run.

http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=3268&fArticleId=nw20090324122745965C662369

[ting]

Damn, that's a really stupid move.:cantbeli:

The Norwegian government with development and environmental minister Erik Solheim(Socialist Left party) and deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen(labour party) threatened to withdraw since the conferance was no longer backed by the Nobel Comitee. When the UK and US were supporting the apparteid regime in the 70s, Norwegian and other Nordic diplomats smugled money to the ANC. The ANC afaik has not forgotten this, and are now in a serious squeeze.

[Rudolph]

Damn, that's a really stupid move.:cantbeli:

The Norwegian government with development and environmental minister Erik Solheim(Socialist Left party) and deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen(labour party) threatened to withdraw since the conferance was no longer backed by the Nobel Comitee. When the UK and US were supporting the apparteid regime in the 70s, Norwegian and other Nordic diplomats smugled money to the ANC. The ANC afaik has not forgotten this, and are now in a serious squeeze.

The ANC didn't have any character in the 70's, neither does it today... They didn't care about executing their own people back then, why should they care what the Chinese are doing in Tibet today?

[Shuimo]

rofl
Peace conference postponed
24 March 2009, 12:29
The Johannesburg peace conference due to be held this Friday has been postponed because of the withdrawal of Nobel Peace Prize winners and the Nobel Peace committee after the SA government denied a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend.

Ian Macfarlane of the South Africans Friends of Tibet hailed the decision as a "victory for ubuntu and democracy in South Africa and worldwide. But now the real work begins."

He said that thousands of South Africans and others had expressed their outrage against the government's decision to withhold a visa to the Dalai Lama in an online petition which his organisation had run.

http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=3268&fArticleId=nw20090324122745965C662369

Good move!
Dalailama has been doing a good job to promote the popularity of the meeting!woot

[GETSOME]

Jeeeesssssssss baasp-)
Looks like F.W De Klerk is not going as well.

[Rudolph]

The ANC make their own decisions, it has nothing to do with what the people in the country want...

'A foolish falsehood'
(http://www.news24.com/News24/QA/0,,2-2377_2490887,00.html)24/03/2009 17:19 - (SA)


Cape Town - News24 speaks to Ian Macfarlane of the South African Friends of Tibet about the latest developments in the Dalai Lama visa controversy.

News24: What is your take on the latest news that the conference has been postponed?
We congratulate the PSL on taking the only appropriate action under the circumstances. We hope that the Dalai Lama will soon be granted a visa and that the Peace Conference may be re-convened at that time.

News24: What did you make of the reason the government gave -that it would detract from 2010 and damage our reputation?
That is not only a falsehood, but a foolish falsehood. Nothing would have argued more for a successful 2010, and ensured better publicity for SA, than a warm welcome to the Dalai Lama. As matters stand, the government came out looking like an opportunist lackey of the Chinese.

News24: What do you think China would had done had SA granted the Dalai Lama a visa?
At most they would have wagged their finger at us and got on with business. Our government need not have succumbed to their pressure. As many leading analysts have pointed out, it may well be that China needs SA more than we need them.

News24: Do you think the government's decision was really in the country's best interests, given the important trade relationship with China?
It is never in any country's best interests to divorce a consciousness of dire human rights violations from economic considerations. Ultimately the two are inseparable. Besides this general point, how have our national interests been served by direct Chinese intervention in our foreign policy and interior democracy? The peremptory barring of the Dalai Lama, without any attempt to consult with the parties by whom he was invited, was an act of despotism. The issue also relates strongly to constitutional matters such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

News24: What would you do if you were the president right now, facing pressure from both sides, and had to make a decision?
Publicly announce my intention to put the "bi" back into the bi-lateral agreement with the PRC, an agreement which, in terms of the Pretoria Protocol of 2005 establishing a map for Sino-African relations, guarantees non-interference in national sovereignty. Then, ask the PRC to grant visas to South African human rights NGOs and media to visit Tibet, to ascertain the status of human rights there. Offer a public apology to the Dalai Lama, and extend an open Ubuntu invitation for his future visits and peace-building capabilities as an honorary citizen of South Africa.

News24: Is the outcry to this decision, and resultant media attention, not simply going to make the Chinese government angrier, and more likely to try clamp down on the Dalai Lama's activities?
The Chinese government's anger has nothing to do with it. The Chinese have no right to interfere with Dalai Lama's international activities. China is the party guilty of human rights abuses in this case.

News24: There has been talk of thawing relations between the Chinese and Tibetans. Do you think there is any hope of some sort of peace or settlement?
There is always hope. But hope can only be sustained by keeping the Tibet issue open and exerting ongoing pressure on the PRC to negotiate in good faith with the Tibetan government in Exile.

News24: China says it has improved the lives of Tibetans by building better infrastructure etc. How do you respond to this?
Better infrastructure such as roads and rails for exploiting Tibetan resources and moving masses of Chinese people into Tibetan territory does not improve the lot of the Tibetan people. Better human rights is what's needed in Tibet.


Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. News24 editors reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.

- News24

[matthew.manhorn]

God bless South Africa. Now Dalai Lama please go back to meditation so you can reincarnate as a better human being in your next life.

[Ordie]

Everytime the Dalai Lama is in the press (Chinese and International) it always puts China in a no win situation in terms of public relations.

If China wants to negate the Dalai Lama legitimacy, all they have to do is ignore him.

[Shuimo]

Everytime the Dalai Lama is in the press (Chinese and International) it always puts China in a no win situation in terms of public relations.

If China wants to negate the Dalai Lama legitimacy, all they have to do is ignore him.

No, we won't!
I always feel dalailama can be skillfully used by both china and the west!
Dalailama can become easy scapegoat for all Tibet-related trouble in the hands of the CPC!
And also dalailama's popularity in the west serves to enhance the cohesion of Chinese ordinary folks! wootrofl

[matthew.manhorn]

Everytime the Dalai Lama is in the press (Chinese and International) it always puts China in a no win situation in terms of public relations.

If China wants to negate the Dalai Lama legitimacy, all they have to do is ignore him.

x2 agreed, but hey politics are politics. Some rumored that the PRC supported Taiwanese independence groups / DDP to incite nationalism in China, i wonder if they did the same to dalai

[Shuimo]

x2 agreed, but hey politics are politics. Some rumored that the PRC supported Taiwanese independence groups / DDP to incite nationalism in China, i wonder if they did the same to dalai
That sounds reasonable!:backhand:

[Ordie]

x2 agreed, but hey politics are politics. Some rumored that the PRC supported Taiwanese independence groups / DDP to incite nationalism in China, i wonder if they did the same to dalai

I doubt it.
Nationalism is hard to contain and control. It creates embarassing episodes for the PRC government whenever Chinese demonstrators throw stones at the Japanese Consulate or Embassy whenever a Japanese politician visits the Yasukune Shrine.

It hurts pragmatic international relations and China's image abroad.

[Shuimo]

I doubt it.
Nationalism is hard to contain and control. It creates embarassing episodes for the PRC government whenever Chinese demonstrators throw stones at the Japanese Consulate or Embassy whenever a Japanese politician visits the Yasukune Shrine.

It hurts pragmatic international relations and China's image abroad.
But on the whole, the CPC plays the nationalism card very well and masterfully!

[R/cst]

Well based on the respones from the South African public, we all want the Dalai lama to come to the confrence no matter what a certain other party demands.

The free people have spoken

[matthew.manhorn]

I doubt it.
Nationalism is hard to contain and control. It creates embarassing episodes for the PRC government whenever Chinese demonstrators throw stones at the Japanese Consulate or Embassy whenever a Japanese politician visits the Yasukune Shrine.

It hurts pragmatic international relations and China's image abroad.

Yeah it I guess makes sense. Those are false rumors from what I've read from hot-headed KMT supporters in Chinese discussion forums. Plus from most local Taiwanese i've spoken to they seem to hate the KMT more than the CCP

[Shuimo]

Well based on the respones from the South African public, we all want the Dalai lama to come to the confrence no matter what a certain other party demands.

The free people have spoken
Who cares?
It is dalailama himself that caught media coverage, not the public opinion!

[R/cst]

Who cares?
It is dalailama himself that caught media coverage, not the public opinion!

We care and the government will care since unlike china we can pressure the government to conform to the publics viewpoint.

Its a clear case of the dog wagging the tail and not the tail wagging the dog

[Shuimo]

We care and the government will care since unlike china we can pressure the government to conform to the publics viewpoint.

We Chinese people also care about whether racial equality is well put into place in your country!

[Lazer]

i think this is great news, following the taxi strike yesterday the ANC is just digging its own grave for the elections in 4wks, lets just hope everyone remembers these stuff ups of the government then.

[R/cst]

We Chinese people also care about whether racial equality is well put into place in your country!

?????

It is in place

[Obelix]

The Chinese should have no say in matters concerning human rights in other lands.

And I don't only mean regarding Tibet, more their propping up of some of the most abhorrent regimes in Africa, Mugabe's being one of them. Without the Chinese he'd be long-gone by now.

China as a country puts its economic well-being so far in front of any other consideration that I cringe at the predictions that it will overtake the US as world leader in decades to come.

[Rudolph]

Support for Hogan grows
(http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2491973,00.html)26/03/2009 12:32 - (SA)

Cape Town - Civil society groups and a Constitutional Court judge have added their voices to growing support for Health Minister Barbara Hogan's stand on the Dalai Lama.

Hogan provoked the ire of the government on Tuesday by saying its denial of a visa to the Tibetan leader under Chinese pressure showed it was "dismissive of human rights", and urging it to apologise.

The Helen Suzman Foundation said in a statement it supported the "principled stance" taken by Hogan.

"The notion of a minister having a different view from Cabinet on a matter is not unprecedented nor is it unacceptable for that opinion to be voiced publicly," the foundation said.

"Any censure or other steps that may be taken against Hogan will be deeply unfortunate."

It said Hogan, who "personally" knew the deep suffering of political intolerance, should be commended for reminding South Africans of some basic tenets of their own history and how the country had a special duty to human rights campaigners globally.

Constitutional Court judge Kate O'Regan on Thursday publicly backed Hogan, SABC radio news reported.

"It is a matter of dismay that human rights does not seem to enter into the picture of some foreign affairs decisions that are made," O'Regan was quoted as saying.

She said that like Hogan, she remembered the years of the 1980s "when South Africa was so fortunate to have friends all over the world assisting our human rights struggle".

Narrow interests

Managing director of the Afrikanerbond Jan Bosman said the refusal of a visa to the Dalai Lama was an example of a government that puts its own narrow interests first with no regard to internationally acceptable norms.

"It must therefore be welcomed that individuals such as Ms Barbara Hogan, Minister of Health, spoke out against this decision," he said.

"The deafening silence by the rest of Cabinet must be seen as condoning this abuse of the most basic of human rights."

The Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum on Thursday released a letter it sent to President Kgalema Motlanthe earlier in the week expressing its "serious concern" about the denial of the visa.

"We raise our voice alongside the many others of our civil society expressing anger and disappointment," said the letter, which was signed by forum chairman, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba.

"We were... shocked by the decision to block a visit by one of the world's most highly respected and visible spokespersons for religious faith, tolerance and human rights.

"By acting in a way that reflects Beijing's political demands you have weakened our national sovereignty."

The letter asked Motlanthe to "reflect" on the decision.

"As leaders of diverse faiths and communities, we believe South Africa has erred in its judgement."

Peace conference

The Tibetan spiritual leader, along with other Nobel Peace Prize winners, was to have addressed a peace conference aimed at thrashing out ways of using football to fight racism and xenophobia ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

On Wednesday, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said Hogan's comments were "rather unfortunate".

"The comments of the minister of health were rather unfortunate in the sense that this position on the Dalai Lama is an official position of this government."

Maseko repeated government's stance that the Dalai Lama was refused entry because his presence would draw the world's attention away from World Cup preparations.

But he conceded that relations with China also played a role.

- SAPA

[Roy Batty]

China praises countries that shun Dalai Lama



If China praised my country for anything then I would assume we were doing something wrong.

[Ordie]

Just as China values its soveriegnty, they should respect South Africa's values on human rights.

[Rudolph]

Just as China values its soveriegnty, they should respect South Africa's values on human rights.

My fear with this and many other similar incidents, is that younger people overseas do not understand the vast cultural and ideological differences in this country...

[Lazer]

My fear with this and many other similar incidents, is that younger people overseas do not understand the vast cultural and ideological differences in this country...

could you please expand on this, i'm a bit unsure by exactly what you mean by that?

[LineDoggie]

Its a clear case of the dog wagging the tail and not the tail wagging the dog


Your making him Hungry.......

[R/cst]

Lol .....rofl