On Russia-Ukraine conflict: Dalai Lama says war is outdated, calls for dialogue

Amid the
burgeoning Russia-Ukraine crisis, where the West has come out strongly in
support of Ukraine and China has extended tacit support to Moscow, Tibetan
spiritual leader Dalai Lama has called for swift peace to be restored. “War is
out-dated – non violence is the only way,” the Tibetan leader-in-exile said.

“We need to develop
a sense of the oneness of humanity by considering other human beings as
brothers and sisters. This is how we will build a more peaceful world,” the 14th
Dalai Lama, 86, said, in a statement published on his website.

He further said, “Genuine
peace comes about through mutual understanding and respect for each other’s
wellbeing. We must not lose hope. The 20th century was a century of
war and bloodshed. The 21st century must be a century of dialogue.”

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The Dalai Lama
escaped China during the 1959 Tibetan uprising and settled in India. Ever
since, he has consistently articulated his staunch opposition to the Chinese “occupation”
of Tibet. The current crisis in Ukraine, a conflict that has the potential to
throw Europe into disarray, has had reverberations across the world.

But, with blocs reminiscent
of the Cold War forming among the world’s superpowers, peoples battling
occupation have grown anxious. Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which Ukraine and
the West calls an “invasion,” immediately triggered concerns about whether
Taiwan will meet a similar fate.

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In fact, the
meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi
Jinping at the China-Russia summit on the side lines of the Beijing Games had
made Taiwan extremely wary.

Responding to a
joint statement issued by Putin and Xi, Taiwan said, “It (the statement) not
only increases the Taiwanese people’s disgust and loathing for the Chinese
government’s arrogance and bullying, it also clearly shows all the world’s
countries the sinister face of the Chinese Communist regime’s aggression,
expansionism and damaging of peace.”

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Just last week,
China had said Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory. “This is an
indisputable historical and legal fact. The one-China principle is a
universally-recognized norm in international relations,” Beijing had said.