Dalai Lama Reaches Out To Chinese

From AFP:

The Dalai Lama on Wednesday reached out to China, saluting a Beijing-based novelist who has defied China by seeking reconciliation with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

On a visit to Washington, the Dalai Lama presented an award to Wang Lixiong, who helped spearhead a petition by more than 300 prominent Chinese who last year questioned a crackdown on major protests in Tibet.

China has tried to isolate the Dalai Lama, pressing nations including the United States to publicly shun him. Organizers did not announce Wang’s attendance before the ceremony, saying it could put him at personal risk.

At a theater in Washington’s Chinatown, Wang greeted the Dalai Lama by folding his hands in a traditional Tibetan greeting. The two men exchanged a lengthy embrace as the Tibetan leader draped him with a ceremonial white scarf.