The Dalai Lama received an award Tuesday in Washington, honoring his human rights advocacy. In the Capital Building, Speaker Nacy Pelosi presented the Dalai Lama with the first-ever Lantos Human Rights Prize, an honor from the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. The award was established in honor of the late U.S. House Representative Tom Lantos, who was a key supporter of Tibetan rights, and who was instrumental in inviting the Dalai Lama to speak before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987. Speaker Pelosi said the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader fought for human rights with courage, passion and humility.
The Dalai Lama is on a five-day visit to the Capital. He is scheduled to meet with lawmakers and the State Department’s new coordinator for Tibetan issues. He is not scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit. The spiritual leader’s top envoy, Lodi Gyari, said the Dalai Lama and President Obama had agreed to meet after a U.S.-China summit in November. Gyari said the Dalai Lama hopes a cooperative U.S.-Chinese relationship will help support Tibet’s interests.
This is the first time since 1991 that the Dalai Lama will be in Washington and not meet with the U.S. president. The Chinese government considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and often takes retaliatory action against countries whose leaders meet with the exiled leader.