Dalai Lama's trip a betrayal of the country

The Dalai Lama's recent visit to "Arunachal Pradesh", as it is called by its illegal Indian occupiers, has once again put the Southern Tibet region of China in the spotlight. The region was separated from China by the so-called McMahon Line in the early 1900s, which was a line the then foreign secretary of the British-run government of India, Henry McMahon, proposed as part of the Simla Accord, a treaty that was never validated.

Even after fleeing to India in 1959, the Dalai Lama did not promote India's "sovereignty" over Southern Tibet at first. Yet, that gradually changed. He called Southern Tibet "Arunachal Pradesh" in his memorandum to then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. He said in an interview with local media during his visit to the region in 2003 that "Arunachal Pradesh" is part of Tibet. In 2008, he said in an interview with The Times of India that the McMahon Line is "a legal border", and "Arunachal Pradesh" is India's territory. In 2009, in spite of the Chinese government's opposition, the Dalai Lama visited the region under the name of a trip of reminiscence.

His latest visit to the region, at the invitation of the Indian government, shows that he can't wait to give away Tawang district, the holy land of China's Tibet where the sixth Dalai Lama was born, in exchange for India's support for the survival of his separatist group. His trip is testimony to his betrayal of himself, the people, the country, as well as regional peace.