Polish media say President Lech Kaczynski met with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Wednesday in Warsaw.
During the meeting, Dalai Lama
expressed his happiness over the spontaneous show of solidarity from
the polish people during his visits to Gdansk, Krakow and Wroclaw.
Dalai Lama said he had always admired the Polish people’s spirit of
solidarity and how they won their freedom without resorting to
violence.
Reiterating Tibetan people’s demand for
meaningful autonomy with full guarantee to preserve the Tibetan
Buddhist culture, His Holiness presented to the president with a copy
of the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People”.
The
Polish President said that he was aware of the Chinese Constitution and
elaborated that the Communism under which the Polish people lived was
gentler then the Chinese Communism.
He
also said he admired the contribution that His Holiness has made in the
field of spiritualism. He agreed with His Holiness’ remarks that
nations should have good relations with China but take a principled
stand on matters relating to human rights and democracy.
The Polish capital is the last stop on the Dalai Lama's tour of Poland.
On Thursday, he will meet with parliamentary leaders and attend a meeting of the foreign affairs committee. He will also meet with Warsaw city authorities and deliver a lecture.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama Saturday in the Polish city of Gdansk -- a move that angered China.
China warned France that the meeting with the Dalai Lama would have a negative effect on multi-billion-dollar trade ties and long-term relations between the two countries.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of advocating Tibet's separation from China. The Dalai Lama says he is seeking greater autonomy for Tibet, not independence.
Mr. Sarkozy sought to play down the controversy before meeting with the Dalai Lama. The French leader, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, stressed that China and the EU have shared interests.
The Dalai Lama and other Nobel laureates had gathered in Gdansk on Friday to mark 25 years since the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to former Polish president and trade union leader Lech Walesa.
Mr. Sarkozy was in Gdansk for an unrelated meeting of European leaders.
གཟའ་ཕུར་བུ། ༢༠༢༤/༠༤/༡༨