A Chinese official has denounced the Dalai Lama for calling for dialogue with the militant Islamic State (IS) group, saying that it exposed the Tibetan spiritual leader’s “sympathy” for the group, state media said on Wednesday.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa quoted the Dalai Lama on Monday as saying that dialogue with IS, which has seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, was vital to ensuring peace.
“By saying, ‘listen, understand and respect’ them, it exposes, in his very bones, his sympathy or endorsement for IS,” China’s state-run Global Times newspaper quoted Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the top advisory body to China’s parliament, as saying.
Zhu said the fundamental reason for the Dalai Lama’s sympathy was due to the fact that “he has never given up violence in his political way of life”.
The Dalai Lama was not immediately available for comment.
