Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is expected to visit Taiwan as early as April, sources said yesterday.
"The details of his planned trip have yet to be confirmed, but the general direction [that he'll visit Taiwan this year] is correct," a source close to the Tibetan government-in-exile in India told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Local media reported from Washington on Sunday that the Dalai Lama's office is expected sometime this week to make a final decision on the proposed visit. The reports said the revered Tibetan spiritual leader might make the trip as early as April.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) sent the Dalai Lama an open invitation to visit Taiwan after his inauguration last May, but since then the "China factor" has thwarted the realization of the spiritual leader's visit, sources said.
"The Dalai Lama has been hoping to resume dialogue with the Chinese Communist regime, an endeavor which has been ongoing during the past year or so," the source said.
"In view of the expected breakthrough in this aspect, the timing for his visit [to Taiwan] was deemed inappropriate, despite Chen's invitation."
But now that a breakthrough in relations between the Tibetan government-in-exile and China seems unlikely in the short term, the Dalai Lama plans to visit, the source said.
Tibetan exiles accuse China of gross human rights violations in Tibet, which it has occupied for half a century.
Beijing has declined to talk with the Dalai Lama, who advocates autonomy from China for the region.
The Dalai Lama visited Taiwan for the first time in 1997.
The focus of his second visit, if it comes to pass, would be to focus on preaching his Buddhist message of peace and tolerance.
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