Chinese Officials Leave Conference Over Tibetan Presence

By Contact Staff / June 30, 2012;

26th World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference in S. Korea

A Chinese delegation of Buddhist officials and monks abruptly departed from a religious conference in Yeosu, South Korea, on 13 June after Tibetan attendees refused to yield to Chinese demands that they leave.

During the opening ceremony of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) the previous evening, the Chinese delegation walked out over the Tibetans’ participation in the event. Claiming that the two Tibetans, one of whom was a senior envoy of the Dalai Lama, represented Tibet’s government-in-exile, the Chinese requested that they leave. When the Tibetans refused the request, the Chinese delegation reportedly left for Busan, South Korea, in a vehicle provided by the Chinese embassy.

In a telephone interview with the Korea Herald, Pema Chinjor, Tibet’s minister of religion and culture, said, “Nothing so special. Chinese are always like that. We are here at the invitation of the organizers and were attending the ceremony because I (as the member of the organization) was allowed to.”

“Organizers came to me asking to go outside for some time as Chinese kept complaining… But I said I am here on invitation and this is Korea, not Beijing,” he added.
Organizers said they had hoped for China’s understanding on the issue as it is a religious event, not a political one.

“This was not the first time that delegates from China and Tibet have met at a conference. They met at a previous conference held in Sri Lanka two years ago, but it ended smoothly,” said a spokesman for the WFB conference in South Korea.

Mr. Chinjor attended the event, held on the sidelines of the Expo 2012 Yeosu, with Samdhong Rinpoche, a former prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile. The two are the highest-ranking Tibetan officials to visit South Korea so far. In a previous interview, event organizers said Chinjor’s and Rinpoche’s visit was regarded as a low-profile trip for the purpose of meeting Buddhist delegates from other nations to exchange views on religious matters.

Approximately 1000 delegates from 33 countries took part in the event, which ended on 15 June.