Tibet can exist within China in the same spirit as the EU sticks together, the Dalai Lama has said.
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule and set up a government-in-exile in the foothills of Dharamsala.
Chinese troops had seized control of Tibet nine years earlier.
He said he only seeks autonomy for his homeland, not outright independence.
He has also expressed a desire to return to Tibet.
“I always, you see, admire the spirit of [the] European Union,” the Dalai Lama said in a video message to the International Campaign for Tibet on the Washington-based group’s 30th anniversary on Thursday.
“Common interest [is] more important rather than one’s own national interest. With that kind of concept, I am very much willing to remain within the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese word, gongheguo [共和國, republic], shows some kind of union is there,” he said.
While the Dalai Lama reiterated his desire for reconciliation as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) begins his second five-year term as China’s president, he also said the Tibetan issue was not about to go away.
“Among the Chinese hard-liners, in their mind, it seems some kind of dilemma is there about their present policy — whether, you see, it can solve Tibetan problem or not,” he said.
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