A Senator hoping to lead the free world and the longtime leader of oppressed Buddhists and Tibetans will meet here this afternoon, as presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and the Dalai Lama sit down together in Aspen.
The brief summit was announced yesterday morning, and McCain told reporters in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday afternoon that he and the spiritual leader of Tibet had “mutually agreed to a meeting.”
The Dalai Lama will speak at the Aspen Institute today during a weekend-long seminar on Buddhism and deliver a keynote speech tomorrow at the Benedict Music Tent titled “Values-Based Leadership and Universal Responsibility.”
McCain is due to fly into Aspen at 1:45 p.m. today following a luncheon speech at the American GI Forum of the United States National Convention at Denver’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. He is then expected to take a motorcade to a private home on Lake Street in the West End. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to meet McCain there at 2:30 p.m.
McCain will offer “brief remarks with no questions” to media during his afternoon visit, according to campaign spokesman Tom Kise. The Arizona senator is scheduled to fly out of Aspen immediately after the meeting.
The topic of the late-scheduled meeting has not been confirmed, but it comes at the end of a week in which McCain’s presumptive opponent in the November presidential race, Sen. Barack Obama, has dominated national media coverage while meeting overseas with foreign dignitaries.
The get-together between the 71-year-old Christian candidate and the 73-year-old reincarnated Buddhist spiritual leader also comes as the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing are fast approaching. The lead-up to the games has been marked by monk-led protests, casting an international spotlight on repression of Tibetans under Chinese rule.
In April, McCain called on the Chinese government to release detained Tibetan monks and said he would not attend the opening ceremony of the games if China did not begin treating Tibetans more humanely. He advised President George W. Bush to “evaluate” his attendance based on Chinese treatment of the Tibetans, as well. Bush later announced that he will attend the ceremony.
“I deplore the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities and the continuing oppression in Tibet of those merely wishing to practice and preserve their culture and heritage,” McCain said in a statement on April 10. “I have listened carefully to the Dalai Lama and am convinced he is a man of peace who reflects the hopes and aspirations of Tibetans. I urge the government of the People’s Republic of China to address the root causes of unrest in Tibet by opening a genuine dialogue with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, aimed at granting greater autonomy.”
The Dalai Lama later reportedly responded to McCain with a letter of thanks for his concern and attention to the Tibetan plight.
“His Holiness is always very appreciative when any American and world leader makes an effort to learn more about Tibet,” said Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s Washington, D.C.-based special envoy, in an interview on Thursday evening. Gyari said the Dalai Lama has spoken with Obama on the phone, and “we’ve been blessed with a very bi-partisan spirit.”
Meanwhile, local protesters are planning to greet McCain at the airport.
“McCain’s record on torture is surprisingly inconsistent, knowing what most Americans know about his past,” said Michael Huttner, executive director of Progress Now Action, a Denver-based advocacy group helping to organize the local protest.
Huttner said McCain’s Senate vote in February against a ban on waterboarding and other extreme interrogation methods in the War on Terror is a stain on his human rights record that contradicts the Dalai Lama’s message of compassion and forgiveness.
McCain is due back in town to deliver a public speech at the Aspen Institute on Aug. 14.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
