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Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama spoke to BBC’s South Asia Correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan in an interview, which was published on June 27th.
A thread ??.
Last week I travelled to Dharamsala to the residence of the #DalaiLama.
He’s lived in exile in India for more than 60 years, after China sent troops into #Tibet in 1959.
As he approaches his 84th birthday I asked him a range of questions. #BBCDalaiLama pic.twitter.com/onBxj2sSjw
— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) June 27, 2019
The entire interview will be aired on 22:32 GMT+0 on BBC.
In the interview, he had some interesting highlights. Regarding US President Donald Trump, the Dalai Lama said he had no interest in meeting him, at all.
And that Trump had “no moral principle.”
The interview was wide ranging.
The Dalai Lama was scathing about President Trump arguing he has “no moral principle”. He hit out at his America First policies.
Watch the clip here. #BBCDalaiLama. #DalaiLama #Trump. pic.twitter.com/kIhWauLhWl
— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) June 27, 2019
He said he disagreed with how Trump was handling migrant children seeking asylum and that his America First policies were wrong.
“When I saw pictures of some of those young children, I was sad,” he said. “America … should take a global responsibility.”
His recent statement is in contrast to remarks made in 2016 when he said he had “no worries” about a Trump presidency.
“When he became president, he expressed America first. That is wrong,” the Dalai Lama said.
Tenzin Gyatso met with both previous presidents – Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and they both had nothing for praise for him.
Regarding Europe and refugees, he said that Europe is for the Europeans and that refugees should return to their countries and rebuild them.
But before that Europeans had the duty of educating them and making them capable of doing so.
He said that Europe should take in migrants and refugees entering the continent, most who enter should ultimately “return to their own land” while “a limited number” can stay.
“A limited number is OK, but whole Europe eventually become Muslim country? Impossible. Or African country? Also impossible,” he said.
The Dalai Lama’s comments echo similar remarks he made in 2015, when he said while in Sweden that Europe was “morally responsible” for helping “a refugee really facing danger against their life,” but that “they ultimately should rebuild their own country” and that “Europe belongs to the Europeans.”
According to Tenzin Gyatso, the UK should remain in Europe and that he “admired the spirit of the European Union.”
The Dalai Lama says he’s a believer in the spirit of the European Union and supports the UK #remaining – but one of his quotes was once used in a poster for the #leave campaign. And it’s a controversial one. I asked him about this – and the answers are surprising. pic.twitter.com/4CdT7VfM1H
— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) June 27, 2019
He commented on whether he was in contact with Chinese officials. He said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was yet to ask him for a meeting, but that he had spoke to some retired Chinese officials in recent years.
The Dalai Lama told me China’s President Xi has yet to ask him for a meeting. He did say he’s talked to some retired Chinese officials in recent years though, which I found interesting. Other officials have been less than flattering, one called him a demon. More on China here: pic.twitter.com/GKnwNNZmhH
— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) June 27, 2019
Finally, he reiterated his comments that if the Dalai Lama’s successor was born a woman then she should be attractive.
This was perhaps the most surprising moment in the interview. I asked the Dalai Lama if he stood by his earlier comment that if his successor was female, she should be attractive.
He said he did. Watch here:#DalaiLama #BBCDalaiLama. pic.twitter.com/QAy0EFDZTT
— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) June 27, 2019
He reaffirmed his belief that beauty matters as much as brains. “If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.”
He used to be a friend to the CIA… remember his whining? Wah, wah, give me back my slaves, you evil communist atheists! Maybe he sees a future weakening of Washington and the end of the monopolar world.
AMERICA & THE WEST HAVE NO MORAL PRINCIPLES…..how can one expect its inhabitants to have Moral Principles….
The Dali Lama is considered to be The Head of State in Tibet. In such a position one would meet many “partners” , as Putin would say. From the CIA to George Bush, that does not mean you are friends with them.
‘DALAI LAMA SAYS TRUMP HAS “NO MORAL PRINCIPLE”’
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Dalai Lama, not liking cult-like figures of any kind, and also believing him often in the past to have been manipulated by American security services in order to discredit China.
But here he speaks a very bold truth.
Few public figures in the West say anything like this, but it is just such clear truth to my mind.
Never in my life did I think I would take the word of the Dalai Lama over that of the Pope, but there you go. *honk honk*
The Dalai-lama… Isn’t that guy who had nice smiling pictures during a lunch with GW Bush? This guy has been a CIA asset from the beginning.
One could make the case that Bush and Obama had no moral principles either.
I wonder what all the bleeding heartliberals will say about his “europeans for Europe”