McCain meets with Dalai Lama, urges China to release Tibetan prisoners

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday called on China to release Tibetan prisoners as he met with the Dalai Lama. After a 45-minute meeting with the Dalai Lama, McCain said the Beijing Olympic Games in August provide an opportunity for China to demonstrate it recognizes human rights. He also said the Dalai Lama is merely seeking basic rights to preserve Tibetan culture, language and religion. "That's why I'm so disappointed by repeated statements by Chinese officials that ascribe to the Dalai Lama views and actions divorced from what he actually represents. Such rhetoric doesn't serve a cause of peaceful change and reconciliation," McCain said. "I urge the Chinese government to release Tibetan political prisoners, account for Tibetans who have, quote, 'disappeared' since protests in March, and engage in meaningful dialogue on genuine autonomy for Tibet," McCain said. The Tibetan spiritual leader was in Aspen, Colorado, for a symposium sponsored by The Aspen Institute think tank. McCain met with him while his rival, Democrat Barack Obama, was on high-profile trip through Europe and the Middle East. The Dalai Lama praised McCain for his concern, but he emphasized he wasn't endorsing McCain's presidential bid.