South Africa: Tutu Condemns Dalai Lama Visa Scam

CAPE TOWN---The Dalai Lama has called off his visit to South Africa following to
an invitation by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
due to failure to obtain visa to travel to the country.

The Tibetan spiritual leader on Tuesday cancelled his travel to South
Africa to take part in celebrations to mark his fellow Nobel laureate
Archbishop Tutu’s 80th birthday due on Friday and deliver an inaugural
speech at the Desmond Tutu International Peace Centre next day.

The Dalai Lama’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that it was“convinced that for whatever reason or reasons South Africa finds
it inconvenient to issue a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” The
statement said the spiritual leader had cancelled his visit owing to
failure by the South African government to secure visa for him and his
entourage in time after more than a month of waiting.

Archbishop Tutu condemned the move terming it as “quite unbelievable”
to see it happen in a democratic South Africa,

“Our government is worse than the apartheid government, because at
least you were expecting it to be different from the apartheid government,” a visibly
angry Tutu told a news conference in Cape Town.

Tutu lashed out on President Jacob Zuma saying that his government was
working on its own interests and was “quite determined to not to do
anything that would upset China.”

“You and your government don’t represent me. You represent your own
interests. I am warning you out of love, one day we will start praying
for the defeat of the ANC [African National Congress] government,”
said Archbishop Tutu.

The South African government has rejected claims that it had come
under pressure to stop the visit of the Tibetan spiritual leader
exiled in India. This is the second time in two years the Dalai Lama
has been denied entry to South Africa following a similar denial in
2009.

The Chinese government considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist
determined to lead Tibet’s independence from China, assertions he
denies saying that he wants an autonomous Tibet rather than a break
away.

South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe last week visited
Beijing for a four-day tour in which a number of bilateral trade and
investment deals were signed. China is largest South African trade
partner.

The Dalai Lama row has attracted criticism of the Sino-South African
relations that have been seen to affect South African policy issues, a
country that has had a long history of fight for democracy during the
apartheid era.