Kandy Dalai Lama exhibition China deeply displeased

By Rathindra Kuruwita-2016-07-08

The Chinese Embassy has written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs protesting last Wednesday's exhibition of photographs, of Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, in Kandy, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said.

Indrananda Abeysekera, President of the Association of Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation, said the exhibition was held only a few days before Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Yi's visit to Sri Lanka. "This organization, called the Sri Lanka -- Tibetan Buddhist Brotherhood Society, has organized this exhibition. They are also linked to the Office of the Dalai Lama and the Foundation for Universal Responsibility. We all know that this will impact negatively on Sino-Lanka relations" he said.

Abeysekera added that the Chinese Government is opposed to the Dalai Lama's separatist activities and that in the past, Sri Lanka denied entry to Dalai Lama on several occasions.

"The photo exhibition indirectly harms the Sri Lankan Government's relationship with China. To make matters worse, the official website of the government news.lk had also carried an announcement of the exhibition. We wrote to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and expressed our displeasure also," he said.