'Nonpolitical' visit by Dalai Lama riles China

TAWANG, INDIA -- Joyous Buddhist pilgrims welcomed the Dalai Lama back Sunday to the Himalayan town he first set foot in five decades ago while fleeing Chinese rule in his native Tibet -- a rare trip close to his homeland that has angered Beijing.

The Dalai Lama's arrival highlighted a lingering border dispute between India and China, exposed Beijing's ongoing sensitivities over Tibet, and raised questions about who would succeed him as the region's spiritual leader.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said last week that the trip "once again exposes the nature of the Dalai Lama as anti-China." The Dalai Lama insisted that the accusation was "baseless," and that he was seeking only to promote religious values, peace and harmony.

"My visit here is nonpolitical," he said soon after his arrival Sunday morning.

For the residents of Tawang, it seemed purely religious.

The streets were lined with prayer flags and banners welcoming the Dalai Lama. Thousands braved the cold temperatures and biting wind to attend his five-day visit of prayer meetings and lectures on Buddhism.

"It made us very happy to catch a glimpse of him. Nobody is more important to us than him. The Dalai Lama is our god," said Karmayacha, who uses one name and traveled with her family from a village 20 miles away.

Monks clanged cymbals and sounded traditional Tibetan horns to greet the Dalai Lama as he arrived at the Tawang monastery -- filled with fresh orange, white and red flowers -- from a nearby helipad.

The Dalai Lama smiled and chatted with the gathered crowds. One monk shaded him with a giant yellow silk umbrella, and scores of others bowed before him as he walked into a hall to lead a prayer session.

The Dalai Lama first came to Tawang, which has close religious and political ties to Tibet, in 1959, when he fled communist rule. He has since made five visits to the town, the last in 2003.

At that time, he was ill, weary and suffering from dysentery. But when he finally made it here, he felt safe, he said Sunday.

In the days leading up to this visit, monks and residents painted the monasteries of Tawang and scrubbed the town.

Pilgrims arrived in packed trucks. Others walked along narrow paths in the Himalayan foothills for as long as five days to hear a man they revere as a living god.

China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking Tibetan independence. Beijing is especially sensitive to protests against its control over the Himalayan region after deadly anti-government riots there last year.

-- Associated Press