Dalai Lama praises Xi Jinping as ‘more realistic’

The Dalai Lama praised Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday for being “more realistic” and principled than his predecessors, a day after Xi’s three-day visit to India ended. The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has lived in exile for decades in India’s Himalayan foothill city of Dharamsala, after fleeing China following a failed 1959 uprising. Beijing has long accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting unrest in demanding more autonomy for Tibet. But the Dalai Lama noted that Beijing’s attitude appears to be shifting as China’s Communist leaders, who are officially atheist, are now “mentioning the importance of spiritualism.”

There are a lot of changes. [Xi has demonstrated] through his handling of problems, he is comparatively more realistic and with more principles.

President Xi Jinping

The remarks brought no immediate comment from China’s government or state media. However, Beijing has previously denounced the Dalai Lama as a separatist traitor and warned that any of his moderate comments are deceptive. China says the Himalayan region has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, while Tibetans say it was virtually independent until China occupied it in 1950.

Asia-Pacific