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Christian Living

africamatters 03/23/09

SA to Dalai Lama: Keep out!

South Africa has barred the Dalai Lama from coming to a peace conference in Jo-berg. The country's leaders have received much criticism for it, too.

The official word is the South Africans didn't want to jeopardize the country's relationship with China.

The Dalai Lama has been to South Africa twice, but with so much attention on SA right now in light of the upcoming World Cup in 2010 the government didn't want any bad publicity.

Does anyone else see the irony here? When China was preparing for the 2008 summer Olympics, the Chinese government tried so hard to be in the good graces of the world. Now that SA is hosting the first World Cup in Africa, their government is ditching what the rest of the world thinks to be in the good graces of the Chinese. Just a thought...

Now, I don't pretend to be a soccer expert (or what everyone else in the world calls it, "football"), but I do enjoy watching the sport from time to time. But correct me if I am wrong, but the Chinese failed to qualify for the World Cup last June, right? The Chinese team may not even be in South Africa.

This row really boils down to shear economics. SA is China's biggest trading partner in Africa. So, I suppose it does make sense not to get the Chinese upset. It's just sad that the Dalai Lama, a well-known man of peace, cannot attend a peace conference.  Click here to read more.

What do you think?  Should South Africa bar the Dalai Lama?  E-mail me your thoughts.

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