Taiwan Today

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in New Delhi is expected to issue a visa for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan, according to a TECC representative Aug. 27. “We have asked the Dalai Lama’s office to prepare the necessary documentation for his visa application,” said TECC official Ong Wenchyi. “We are likely to follow the 2001 process used to issue a foreign visitor visa for the Dalai Lama so as to avert any unnecessary complications.” Ong said the Dalai Lama was issued an overseas compatriot visa by the Ministry of the Interior and Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission for his first visit to Taiwan in 1997. “He seemed to be unsatisfied with this arrangement at the time.” In keeping with President Ma Ying-jeou’s wish to see the Buddhist spiritual leader visit disaster-stricken areas in central and southern Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to instruct its New Delhi office Aug. 28 to issue visas to the Dalai Lama and his entourage. According to officials at TECC in New Delhi, the Dalai Lama used an ID issued by the Indian government to apply for his visa. But as of 10:30 p.m. Aug. 27, MOFA’s Bureau of Consular Affairs in Taipei had not received any related applications. However, the secretary-general of the Dalai Lama’s office has been issued with a visa and will arrive in Taiwan Aug. 28 to make arrangements for the spiritual leader’s trip. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 4. He is expected to hold a religious service Sept. 1 and deliver public addresses Sept. 2 and 3 in southern and northern Taiwan, respectively. In addition, the Dalai Lama plans to meet former President Lee Teng-hui in a public forum.