China Attempts To Bully Taiwan Over Dalai Lama Visit

The Dalai Lama has arrived in Taiwan to comfort the island's storm victims in a trip that has drawn China's ire. The Tibetan spiritual leader smiled as he greeted Buddhist followers and supporters at the Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday night. Before his departure, he told reporters in India that he had a moral responsibility to visit the victims of the recent typhoon and did not think his trip would cause tension between China and Taiwan.

China has vilified the Dalai Lama for what it says are his attempts to fight for independence in Tibet. Beijing has said it "resolutely opposes" the Taiwan visit. China invaded Tibet in the 1950s and wants to take over Taiwan as well, but Taiwan has a powerful military, and such an invasion would come at a high cost to the Communist mainland. However, communists propaganda has succeeded in convincing some dupes to support a take over of their country, believing it could be peaceful and they would benefit under a communist redistribution of the wealth. Approximately 50 supporters of unification with China hurled insults at the Dalai Lama as he arrived at a suburban Taipei train station Sunday. The communist demonstrators, waving Chinese flags and banners supporting unification with China, shouted "Go home Dalai Lama, don't come here" as he boarded a train bound for the south. See Chick's KINGS OF THE EAST.