Human Rights and a Maturing Relationship

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CHINA

The Dalai Lama is fond of describing himself as "a simple Buddhist monk". He is, of course, no such thing. As well as being the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, he is also the leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Gordon Brown hopes to make a distinction between the two by meeting him on Friday at the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury rather than inviting him to Downing Street.

Something similar happened in Germany last week when the Dalai Lama arrived there at the start of his five-country Western tour (Australia, the United States and France are next), a trip which will keep him in the headlines in the …