Organizers insisted the visit was ““purely religious,’’ but the airport greeting was steeped in politics. Members of the Taiwan Independence Party carried banners urging the island’s president, Lee Teng-hui, to SAY NO TO CHINA! The tiny, procommunist Labor Party held up slogans praising Beijing for ending SLAVERY AND THEOCRACY with the Tibet takeover in 1959 and urging the Dalai Lama to SUPPORT CHINA’S UNITY OR GO AWAY. In Beijing the visit was denounced as ““a political crusade’’ by those who want to ““split the motherland.''
““I am looking forward to seeing your president,’’ said the Dalai Lama, confirming a meeting this week between Beijing’s two best-known adversaries. Both President Lee and the Tibetan leader want China to improve its human-rights record, reform its political system and embrace pluralism before they accept Beijing’s rule. With the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule less than 100 days away, they were making their point at a well-chosen time.
