In an apparent reversal of its previous position, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration said on two occasions that Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is welcome to visit the nation.
The Mainland Affairs Council said at a regular press conference on Thursday that when conditions are right, the Dalai Lama is welcome to apply to visit Taiwan through established channels.
The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan on three occasions, including in 1997 during the term of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and again in 2001 under former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), when he was treated as a visiting head of state. During his 2001 visit, the Dalai Lama met Ma, then mayor of Taipei, who said at the time that Taipei would always welcome the Dalai Lama.
However, after Ma became president in 2008, his stance on visits by the Dalai Lama cooled considerably.
Ma reluctantly agreed to a visit in 2009, during which the spiritual leader performed religious rituals for victims of Typhoon Morakot, but insisted that the visit was purely for religious purposes and refused to meet with with the Dalai Lama in person.
However, since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) reiterated China’s advocacy of the “one country, two systems” policy in September, the tone of cross-straits relations has shifted.
In his Double Ten National Day address, Ma urged China to move toward liberal democracy and support true universal suffrage for Hong Kong, sparking criticism from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The Mainland Affairs Council’s announcement on Thursday solidifies the administration’s endorsement of comments earlier this week by Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Minister Jaclyn Tsai (蔡玉玲).
At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee, she said the Dalai Lama would be welcome to visit the nation when the conditions were right, adding that the Dalai Lama is an important spiritual leader with a broad following in Taiwan.
She said that the Dalai Lama has already held many meetings with “mainland” representatives to resolve the Tibetan problem.
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