Japanese PM sends message to Dalai Lama

08:11, November 04, 2009

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sent a message to the visiting Dalai Lama on Sunday, saying he hopes to meet the exiled separatist on another occasion, Kyodo News reported Monday.

Hatoyama sent the message through a bipartisan group of Japanese lawmakers headed by Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) member Seishu Makino, who met with the Dalai Lama during his visit to Tokyo, Kyodo said, citing unidentified sources in the group. The Dalai Lama then received Hatoyama's message at a Tokyo hotel.

"The message delivery may lead to China cooling the warm relations with Hatoyama's cabinet from when he visited Beijing recently," said Su Hao, the director of the China Foreign Affairs University Asia-Pacific Research Center.

"Hatoyama may try to use the message to balance and ease domestic pressure. His positive attitude toward China caused some unhappiness in the US and Japanese right-wing groups," Feng Zhaokui, former deputy head of the Institute of Japan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

According to Kyodo News, Hatoyama avoided directly meeting with the Dalai Lama, guessing the meeting would provoke China.

The news report also said the Dalai Lama thanked Hatoyama for the message and told the lawmakers he was pleased that Hatoyama had been elected prime minister of Japan.

Hatoyama met with the Dalai Lama in November last year as secretary general of the DPJ and expressed support for "high autonomy" for Tibet.

Agencies contributed to this story

Source: Global Times

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