Watch Video
Podcasts
Blogs
AMERICAS 
McCain to meet Dalai Lama for talks
Friday, 25 July, 2008
China accuses the Dalai Lama of fomenting secessionist unrest in Tibet, where a clampdown on dissent in March brought international criticism of Beijing's
policies in the Himalayan region. (AAP)
WATCH A VIDEO
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is to hold talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, in the US on Friday.
"I've been a great admirer of his... and look forward to meeting an individual who is a transcendent international role model and hero," the White House hopeful said ahead of the meeting in Aspen, Colorado.
IN DEPTH: Visit our US Elections minisite
VIDEO: McCain decries unfair coverage
RELATED: Obama wows Berlin crowd of 200,000
RELATED: Most Americans think Obama will win
"I have admired him and respected him for the efforts he's made on behalf of freedom of the people of Tibet but also all over the world," McCain told reporters in Ohio.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking at a three-day seminar at the Aspen Institute in Colorado that will bring together scholars, teachers and others to explore Tibet's history and culture, the Washington Post reported.
China crackdown criticised
Mr McCain, who has criticised China's crackdown on human rights in Tibet, already had a speech scheduled in Denver, and will then fly to Aspen for a private meeting with the Tibetan leader, the report said.
He said the talks with the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner were "mutually agreed to."
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the remote Himalayan region.
The Dalai Lama fled his homeland in 1959 following a failed uprising and has since lived in exile in Dharamsala, India.
China accuses him of being a separatist, but he insists he does not want independence for Tibet, seeking only greater autonomy for the Himalayan territory as well as an end to religious and cultural repression.
Source: AFP/SBS
"I've been a great admirer of his... and look forward to meeting an individual who is a transcendent international role model and hero," the White House hopeful said ahead of the meeting in Aspen, Colorado.
IN DEPTH: Visit our US Elections minisite
VIDEO: McCain decries unfair coverage
RELATED: Obama wows Berlin crowd of 200,000
RELATED: Most Americans think Obama will win
"I have admired him and respected him for the efforts he's made on behalf of freedom of the people of Tibet but also all over the world," McCain told reporters in Ohio.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking at a three-day seminar at the Aspen Institute in Colorado that will bring together scholars, teachers and others to explore Tibet's history and culture, the Washington Post reported.
China crackdown criticised
Mr McCain, who has criticised China's crackdown on human rights in Tibet, already had a speech scheduled in Denver, and will then fly to Aspen for a private meeting with the Tibetan leader, the report said.
He said the talks with the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner were "mutually agreed to."
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the remote Himalayan region.
The Dalai Lama fled his homeland in 1959 following a failed uprising and has since lived in exile in Dharamsala, India.
China accuses him of being a separatist, but he insists he does not want independence for Tibet, seeking only greater autonomy for the Himalayan territory as well as an end to religious and cultural repression.
Source: AFP/SBS
