Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama arrived in New York on Sunday as he prepares to undergo medical treatment for his knees, according to a statement from his office.
He was greeted by a crowd of supporters, some in traditional dress, outside his hotel in midtown Manhattan.
The spiritual leader fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet and is considered by Beijing to be a dangerous separatist.
Chinese officials bristle at any interactions he has with officials from other countries.
A Nobel Peace Prize winner, he worked for decades to attract global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his remote, mountainous homeland.
The Dalai Lama has met with U.S. officials, including presidents, on previous visits to the country, but Washington has not said whether any meetings have been scheduled for this trip.
He met with a US Congressional delegation last week, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at his residence in Dharamsala, a city in the northern Indian Himalayas where he lives.
Since taking office in 2021, Joe Biden has not yet met with the Dalai Lama.
As a candidate in 2020, Biden criticized Donald Trump for being the only president in three decades who did not meet or speak with the Tibetan spiritual leader, calling it “shameful.”
Any such move would anger Beijing as the US and China seek to stabilize difficult ties.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy, said in early June that China “firmly opposes any anti-China separatist activities conducted by the Dalai in any capacity or name in any country, and opposes any forms of contact between authorities of any country with him.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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