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Editorial: Visa
rejection a national disservice
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs came under heavy fire from Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on Thursday after it emerged that it had
turned down a visa request for the Dalai Lama so he could deliver an address to
an international conference next week.
There was much gnashing of teeth by DPP lawmakers, who wanted to know why the
request was rejected and whether Taiwanese would have to wait until the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) was out of power before the Dalai Lama could visit
Taiwan a fourth time.
The atmosphere at the legislature was not helped by the waffling of ministry
officials, who could only mutter that this “was not a good time” and that a
visit would have to wait for a “more opportune moment.”
That appears to be diplomatic speak for “when hell freezes over or there is
another disaster like Typhoon Morakot.”
The government was not helped by the ministry, in the form of spokesman Steve
Hsia (夏季昌), who denied that China had anything to do with the decision. Of
course it did, even if as nothing more than a bogeyman. Even the former DPP
administration took Beijing into account when granting the Dalai Lama a visa.
That the visa request came from an international organization did not count for
much, despite the government’s oft-proclaimed desire to expand Taiwan’s role on
the world stage, because the Dalai Lama was not being invited so much as a
religious leader, but as a political icon. It is almost impossible to separate
the Dalai Lama’s religious role from politics, even though he has given up his
position as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, but it helps if he is
conducting religious lectures and ceremonies.
The Dalai Lama’s three visits to Taiwan have all centered on religion. His first
trip, in 1997, came at the invitation of the Chinese Buddhism Association for a
series of lectures, even though he met with then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)
and vice president Lien Chan (連戰). However, the political side of those meetings
was downplayed, with Lien seeing the Dalai Lama at a hotel and Lee meeting him
at the foreign ministry’s Guest House rather than at the Presidential Office. A
planned speech to the Legislative Yuan was also canceled.
The Lee government was unwilling to consider a second trip and a visit planned
for 1998 was called off.
The focus of the Dalai Lama’s second visit in 2001, when the DPP was in power,
was religious lectures, although he was met at the airport by government
officials and lawmakers. He also met then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and
vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
His 2009 visit, made at the invitation of seven DPP mayors and county
commissioners, was to provide succor to victims and survivors of Morakot.
Requests for visas for trips at the invitation of non-religious groups, such as
one by the Association of Taiwan Journalists in 2009, have been rejected.
It is truly regrettable that the International Federation of Business and
Professional Women will not be able to hear the Dalai Lama speak. However, one
has to wonder if the group has been made a pawn in the never-ending blue-green
political battle, given that the conference is being organized by the
federation’s local chapter, which is headed by Lu. She could not have really
expected the government to grant the Dalai Lama a visa; it was not even a long
shot.
If this episode is to be judged as yet another piece of political theater, the
foreign ministry’s performance has been abysmal. The federation made its visa
request, in the form of letters from its international president on Aug. 28 and
Sept. 10, yet the ministry did not issue a reply until Nov. 16, just two weeks
before the opening of the conference.
The Dalai Lama should be able to visit Taiwan no matter who invites him. The sad
truth is no matter which party is in power, the odds are better of him being
given a visa if the trip is for religious reasons.
This administration has done the nation a great disservice with its
disingenuousness and hiding behind an excuse of “waiting for a more opportune
time.”
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