Dalai Lama's visit near Tibet angers China

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (centre), talks to media as he comes out from the prayer room at the Tawang Monastery, in Tawang, in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Photo / AP/Manish Swarup

TAWANG, India — In a trip that has angered the Chinese government, the Dalai Lama is visiting the northeast Indian border town of Tawang near Tibet.

The town is a region that has long heightened tensions between India and China.

The two countries have been embroiled in a border dispute over the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh since 1962.

The Dalai Lama's arrival in Tawang has highlighted the lingering border dispute between India and China, exposed Beijing's ongoing sensitivities over Tibet, and raised questions over who would succeed him as the region's spiritual leader.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said last week that the trip "once again exposes the nature of the Dalai Lama as anti-China."

The Dalai Lama, however, insisted Beijing's accusation that his visit is anti-China was "baseless" and that he was only seeking to promote religious values, peace and harmony.

He said he felt close ties to the region because it was his first stop in India when he fled from China's takeover of Tibet 50 years ago.

Thousands of Buddhist pilgrims welcomed the Dalai Lama to the Himalayan town he first set foot in five decades ago while fleeing Chinese rule in his native Tibet.

- AP