U.S. Chinese Fifth Column

Chinese "students" at US university denounce invitation to Dalai Lama
By Agence France-presse

A California university’s decision to have the Dalai Lama speak at this year’s commencement ceremony has sparked uproar among Chinese students who see the choice as an affront.
The University of California San Diego said it extended the invite to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in a bid to promote his message of “global responsibility and service to humanity”.
However, the San Diego chapter of the "Chinese Students and Scholars Association" and other Chinese groups have objected, denouncing the 81-year-old Nobel laureate as a separatist leader intent on dividing China.
The university said in a statement that it stood by its decision and there was no indication it planned to rescind the invite.

“The University of California San Diego has always served as a forum for discussion and interaction on important public policy issues and respects the rights of individuals to agree or disagree as we consider issues of our complex world,” the statement said.
“As a public university dedicated to the civil exchange of views, the university believes commencement is one of many events that provide an appropriate opportunity to present to graduates and their families a message of reflection and compassion,” it added.
The Dalai Lama – who heads the main branch of Tibetan Buddhism – has been a thorn in the side of Beijing.
The spiritual leader, who has lived in exile in the north Indian town of Dharamsala since a failed 1959 uprising, has for decades called for more Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.

As US welcomes Dalai Lama, China media blames 'meddling Indians'

The Dalai Lama last week was invited to deliver the annual commencement address at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in June.
By Shraddha Jandial

China's state media has launched a scathing attack targeting overseas Indians for "meddling" in China-United States relations after the Dalai Lama was invited to speak in the US later this year.
Although the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has been warmly received by leading U.S. senators as well as leaders in European capitals, a commentary by a prominent strategic affairs expert in China's Party-run Global Times instead pointed the finger squarely at overseas Indians, warning they would "bear political consequences".
The Dalai Lama last week was invited to deliver the annual commencement address at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in June.
Xu Liang, who is the Executive Director of the Indian Studies Center at Beijing International Studies University, wrote: "What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian American."
Khosla, incidentally, is an internationally recognised and renowned scientist and computer engineer.

THE INVITE
The invite, the Global Times commentary said, "shows how some Indian Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations." 

It said "he is not the first and the only person to take such action", and claimed that "in recent years, as Indian authorities gradually offset the support for the Dalai Lama, some public organizations supporting the Buddhist monk have become more active".
The paper claimed "some Indians in European countries have also tried to lobby local officials for more opportunities for the Dalai Lama to speak to an international audience. With a clear knowledge of the Chinese government's stance toward the issue, these Indians overseas are deliberately opposing China."

The commentary ended with a warning for the new Trump administration, saying that if it "wants to alter the consensus reached between China and the US after the end of WWII over Tibet, they will thoroughly embarrass themselves."
While the Global Times pointed the finger at "overseas Indians" for invitations to the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in fact, has been received by leading U.S. senators and members of Congress alike.

DALAI LAMA LEADS OPENING PRAYERS
In 2014, the Dalai Lama even led opening prayers in a landmark event at the Senate Chamber.
Moreover, the Dalai Lama's recent welcomes have received bipartisan support. 

Just last year, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both of whom have been vocal about the Tibetan issue, hosted a lunch for the Dalai Lama at the U.S. Capitol during a 15-day visit to the U.S.
Pelosi, a leading Democrat, said then the "bipartisan luncheon is a tribute to the deep respect His Holiness enjoys on both sides of the aisle for the message of peace, compassion and responsibility he brings to the world."
"Every time His Holiness visits the Capitol," Pelosi said, "he reminds us that 'change comes through action,' and that Congress must do our part to help the Tibetan people in their fight to preserve their language, culture and religion."

Dalai Lama invited to US university: China media warns, insults Indians

By Sutirtho Patranobis

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, delivers a public lecture on “Reviving Indian Wisdom in Contemporary India” at a function in New Delhi on February 5, 2017.

India will face serious consequences if its overseas citizens meddle in Chinese affairs by courting and promoting Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, a Chinese newspaper has said continuing the recent trend of demonising India in state-controlled media in China.
This time the nationalistic tabloid Global Times picked on the Indian American chancellor of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Pradeep Khosla for inviting the the exiled spiritual head and leader of the Tibetan people the Dalai Lama to address graduating students in June.
Apparently, the invitation triggered much anger among Chinese students from the mainland at the university; and, in Beijing, it triggered a harshly-worded opinion piece, which often lapsed into insults, repeatedly referring to Indians as “these Indians”.
Referring to the invitation extended by the chancellor to the India-based Dalai Lama, the GT article said: “What is laughable is that the person behind the infamous invitation was campus chancellor Pradeep Khosla, an Indian American. The campus website posted a photo of Khosla who met the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, last October. This shows how some Indian Americans agitate China-India and China-US relations”.
The Tibetan leader is considered a separatist by the Communist Party of China-ruled government and has been referred to as “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, inciting separatism and self-immolations.

Dalai Lama with Pradeep Khosla in Dharamsala.

Inviting the Tibetan leader for a lecture is apparently the same as trying to divide China, argued Xu Liang from the Indian Studies Centre at the Beijing International Studies University.
Then came the warning: “Since modern times, the Indians have enjoyed unity bestowed by the British. They ramified Pakistan, annexed Sikkim, and exploited geopolitical interests from ethnic divisions in Sri Lanka and Nepal. If the Indians indulge in the obsession of intruding on the territorial integrity of China, China will not sit still”.
“India is a big country in terms of public diplomacy, but if some overseas Indians make it their business to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and treading on their sovereignty, they will bear the political consequences,” Xu wrote.
“Khosla is imposing his views of the Dalai Lama on the student population at the university and using such an important occasion as commencement to promote someone who has nothing to do with education,” the author argued.
But Khosla wasn’t the only Indian among “these Indians” who deserved scorn from Xu.
“But he is not the first and the only person to take such action. In recent years, as Indian authorities gradually offset the support for the Dalai Lama, some public organisations supporting the Buddhist monk have become more active.
In 2008, many Indians and Westerners in Nepal held demonstrations in Kathmandu against the Beijing Olympic torch relay,” Xu wrote.
“Some Indians in European countries have also tried to lobby local officials for more opportunities for the Dalai Lama to speak to an international audience. With a clear knowledge of the Chinese government’s stance toward the issue, these Indians overseas are deliberately opposing China,” Xu wrote.
“These overseas Indians do not have a clear sense of how international politics function. They cannot feel the hurt that a divided country brings to its people.”