NEW DELHI: Former House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday slammed Chinese President Xi Jinping claiming that while the Chinese premier’s legacy will fade, Dalai Lama’s legacy ‘will live forever’.
Pelosi’s remarks came following a meeting between a US delegation including, Republican chair of the US House foreign affairs committee Michael McCaul met Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in Dharamshala.
“His Holiness Dalai Lama, with his message of knowledge, tradition, compassion, purity of soul and love, will live a long time and his legacy will live forever. But you, the President of China, you’ll be gone and nobody will give you credit for anything,” she said.
Upon arrival in Dharamshala, Pelosi expressed her excitement about being there, while McCaul affirmed President Biden’s intention to sign the ‘Resolve Tibet Act’. The US Representative highlighted the significance of the bill passed by Congress and expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming meeting with the Dalai Lama.
“I’ll be gracious to the Chinese people, I don’t know that they’re up to this, but we do know that the Chinese government is, and we do know that they must get the message. This legislation sends the message, the House and the Senate and soon to be signed by Joe Biden, the president of the United States,” she said.
Earlier this week, the US Congress passed the ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’, also known as the ‘Resolve Tibet Act’, which urges China to re-engage with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders to peacefully resolve their dispute over the status and governance of Tibet. The legislation rejects Beijing’s stance that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times and calls for an end to the propagation of disinformation about Tibetan history, people, and institutions.
Dalai Lama has drawn sharp criticism from China with the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian on Tuesday, calling the spiritual leader “a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.”