During the interview, the Dalai Lama said that he saw the government and non-government organizations bringing a lot of money and relief to the disaster areas, helping victims to rebuild their houses and villages. From a religious aspect, he was giving them hope and faith on a spiritual level. But because of global warming, experts seemed to believe that the chance for such disasters might increase in the future, so the government should find them a safe new home.
In response to a question about religious difference between the Dalai Lama and most of the victims, he said that people’s ethnicities, nationalities or even religions really make no difference to him, because they are all humans.
In response to a question about criticism that his visit was politically motivated, the Dalai Lama said that none of the parties involved were playing politics.
At a separate setting yesterday, when asked for comments on the Dalai Lama’s nephew, Khedroob Thondup, who said that Taiwan’s government had put a “gag order” on the exiled religious leader out of fears of Beijing’s reaction, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) declined to comment.
Wang also denied that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) had met the Tibetan representative and made a three-point request, including that the monk would refrain from engaging in political activities.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
Also See: EDITORIAL: Propaganda overshadows Dalai Lama
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