Word: taiwan
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...mess, say yes. That may be what Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was thinking when he gave his official nod to the controversial visit of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's leader-in-exile, to Taiwan next week. Ma has been facing his lowest approval ratings - around 20% - since he took office more than a year ago. The public has been angry with his lack of strong leadership and with the slow pace of relief efforts since Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan on Aug. 8, bringing the worst floods in 50 years and leaving at least 568 dead or missing and more...
...comfort and pray for the victims of the worst natural disaster to hit the island since a 1999 earthquake killed more than 2,400. The Dalai Lama will arrive on Aug. 30 to give speeches and visit disaster areas for six days. This will be his third visit to Taiwan; the first two were in 1997 and 2001. The presidential office said it agreed to this visit on religious and humanitarian grounds, adding that it believed the visit would not harm relations with China. (See photos of the life of the Dalai Lama...
...Just nine months ago, Ma had rejected a visit from the Tibetan spiritual leader, whom the Buddhist community had invited, because he didn't want to upset Beijing. Ma said then that "the time was inappropriate" for such a visit. Forging closer ties with China, Taiwan's longtime political rival and military threat, has been Ma's biggest priority and achievement so far as President. In his short time in office, he's reached milestones such as opening up investment and tourism to the Chinese and establishing direct transportation...
...expected, China promptly expressed its opposition to the visit. The day after Ma's announcement, China's Taiwan Affairs Bureau said, "No matter under what form or identity Dalai uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this," according to the Xinhua news agency. China is sensitive to prominent overseas visits by the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of seeking independence for Tibet. Beijing boycotted an E.U. summit last December when French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he planned to meet with the exiled Tibetan leader...
...brunt of China's statement was aimed at the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), not the Ma administration. "Some DPP members have taken the chance to plot the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan," Xinhua reported. "Obviously this is not for the sake of disaster relief. It's an attempt to sabotage the hard-earned good situation in cross-strait relations." Political commentator Antonio Chiang says China's obligatory protest will not hurt Ma's platform of improving relations. "Beijing is going to make some noise, but that's it," he says. "They understand Ma's in big trouble." Beijing...