Dalai Lama Gets Congress’ Human Rights Award
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NEW YORK — The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Chinese-occupied Tibet, Friday received the first Congressional Human Rights Award and predicted that students fighting for democracy will prevail in China.
The exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader received the award, named after Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, from two congressmen for his decades of efforts to end China’s military occupation of Tibet.
The award was presented one day after the Chinese government strongly protested the approval by Congress of wide-ranging economic sanctions in reaction to suppression of pro-democracy students in Beijing.
Observers said the Dalai Lama’s award might exacerbate the already tense relations between the United States and China.
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) said the Dalai Lama has been the “quintessential leader of a global trend moving toward reconciliation and nonviolence.”
Lantos and Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.) are co-chairmen of the 180-member Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which helped draft the five-point plan the Dalai Lama has been using to negotiate with China for more religious and civil liberties in Tibet.
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