Dalai Lama to visit Bush ahead of his trip to China

Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is to make a high-profile 10-day visit to Washington next month, during which he is expected to meet with US President George W. Bush, a rights group said.

Despite angry complaints from China, Bush went ahead and held talks with the exiled leader in 2001 following his election as president in the first term.

Beijing sees the Buddhist leader as a supporter of independence for Tibet, which it regards as Chinese territory.

The Dalai Lama's visit to the US capital will take place just before Bush makes a trip to China on Nov. 19 to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).

The 70-year-old Dalai Lama's itinerary during the Washington visit beginning Nov. 8 "anticipates likely meetings with US President George Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other key Congressional leaders," the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.

Bush's previous meeting with the Dalai Lama took place at the White House residence, avoiding -- as did his predecessor Bill Clinton -- meeting the spiritual leader in official White House offices.

The International Campaign for Tibet said the Dalai Lama's visit came at a "key moment," citing the current Sino-Tibetan dialogue process on the territory's future status.

It represented "an historic opportunity for the Tibetan people," said the group, which promotes democracy and human rights for Tibetans.

The first-ever talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Beijing officials outside Chinese soil were held in the Swiss capital Berne in July.

The talks were the fourth round between the two sides since direct links were resumed in 2002. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 and direct ties between him and Beijing collapsed in 1993.

Human rights group Amnesty International said separately on Tuesday that it planned to write to Bush, urging him to raise during his talks with Chinese leader Hu the case of Tibet's young Panchen Lama, who has allegedly been under house arrest by China for the past decade.

"This is among our priority cases and we would ask the US president to raise the issue with the Chinese," said T. Kumar, Amnesty's Asia advocacy director in Washington.

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was picked as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, has been missing since 1995 when he was six years old. Beijing denies he is under detention but refuses to reveal his whereabouts.

In Washington, the Dalai Lama is to give a talk at the MCI Center on Nov. 13 where his 70th birthday will be marked by a celebration by hundreds of Himalayan, Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhists.

"This gathering of Buddhists from all over Asia recognizes the influence of the Tibetan Buddhist cultural heritage far beyond its birthplace in Tibet," the statement said.

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, who will host the Dalai Lama, described the spiritual leader as "a powerful and positive force in our world."

The Dalai Lama will also hold a dialogue with scientists, physicians and psychologists on the role of meditation in medical treatment and healing, and inaugurate a lecture series of the Society for Neuroscience, the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians dedicated to understanding the brain and nervous system.