The Beat: Dalai Lama Denied Visa
Ok, so I thought I was done posting neg news for the day. Sorry. But unfortunately, I just came across this completely disheartening and outrageous article from CNN.com reporting on the denial of issuing a visa to the Nobel Laureate, the Dalai Lama, to South Africa to attend an international peace conference in Johannesburg this week.
According to South African spokes person, Thabo Masebe, the mission of the conference is to highlight the upcoming World Cup in 2010. The country feels that if the Dalai Lama attends the events, it would take the shift away from promoting the World Cup and put the focus on China and Tibet. And this is something South Africa feels that they have worked too hard to promote and have gained much from its trading relationship with China.
Fellow laureates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and former president, F.W. De Klerk are both boycotting the event due to the the exclusion of the Dalai Lama.
Continue reading on CNN.com
