SEATTLE — The Dalai Lama’s first visit to the United States since an uprising in Tibet sparked an armed crackdown by China will be surrounded by an ambitious conference aimed at opening a dialogue on compassion.
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader was expected to arrive here today for a six-day visit.
In Tibet, the recent demonstrations against five decades of Chinese rule are the largest and most sustained among Tibetans in almost two decades. The unrest has led to loud protests that have been following the Olympic torch’s passage to Beijing.
China has accused the Dalai Lama of being involved in the uprising. He has said that he wants greater autonomy for the remote mountain region but is not seeking independence.
The privately organized Seeds of Compassion conference in Seattle, anchored by the Dalai Lama’s visit, is expected to draw more than 150,000 people, including religious, business and political leaders.
His visit to a city historically friendly to the Tibetan cause was not expected to spark demonstrations as heated as those following the Olympic torch. But some Tibetan community leaders said they expected activity from pro-China demonstrators.
On Wednesday, pro-Tibetan and pro-China demonstrators clashed along the torch’s route in San Francisco. Earlier, demonstrations over Tibet have dogged the path of the Olympic torch in Paris and London. The initial ceremony in Greece was disrupted as well.
Also on Wednesday, President Bush again exhorted Beijing to reach out to the Dalai Lama to find a solution. And the U.S. House passed a resolution criticizing China for its “disproportionate and extreme” response to protests in Tibet, and urged the Beijing government to hold direct, unconditional talks with the Dalai Lama.
In Seattle, event organizers said that even with increasing political pressure from China, the Dalai Lama was committed to coming to Seattle because he believes in global peace. He won the Nobel Peace prize in 1989.
“He wants compassion for both sides, for the Tibetans, for the Chinese brothers,” said Lama Tenzin Dhonden.
Seeds of Compassion is Dhonden’s vision. A Tibetan monk, Dhonden has known the Dalai Lama since he was an 8-year-old boy training at the Namgyal Monastery, the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery in Dharamsala, India, where Tibet’s goverment-in-exile is located. Dhonden partnered with Seattle businessman Dan Kranzler to organize the event, and has consulted with the Dalai Lama since 2005 about it. This is the fourth event with similar goals Dhonden has organized.
Dhonden said Seattle was picked because it’s a leader in philanthropy, and is a leader in the business and technology world. It cost about $5 million to organize the event, Kranzler said, but scores of volunteers and donations cut the costs down.
Included among Seeds of Compassion events will be a concert with Dave Matthews and a speech by Gov. Chris Gregoire. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels will present the key to the city to the Tibetan leader as well. The University of Washington will also give the Dalai Lama an honorary degree.
Seeds of Compassion will also feature dozens of workshops with experts on various subjects, with early childhood development being one of the main focuses. The message is that nurturing kindness will create better communities.
Except for two concerts, the Seeds of Compassion events are free and open to the public.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959, but remains the religious and cultural leader of many Tibetans.
No large pro-Tibet demonstrations are expected from the Tibetan community out of respect to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan community leaders said.
“He is a living spirit of the people in Tibet, so we don’t see anything to do at this time,” said Tashi Namgyal, president of the Tibet Association of Washington.
Seattle police expect large crowds and plan to deploy additional officers, officer Mark Jameson said.
The Chinese community in Seattle has been split by the Tibetan situation, said Assunta Ng, publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly, a local Asian-American community newspaper. Ng added she wouldn’t be surprised if pro-China demonstrators would show up at some of the events, and added that some Chinese students plan to protest the politicization of the Olympics.
Dhonden, who was born in India after his parents fled Tibet, said China wants to show it is modern, and that’s why the country is hosting the Olympic games, but it should respect human rights.
“How do you have games when people are being killed?” Dhonden said.
After his Seattle stop, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to head to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., for a speech there.
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