Taiwan Approves Dalai Lama’s Visit

Taiwan’s government said it approved a request for the Dalai Lama to visit, an unexpected move that could anger Beijing and disrupt a recent détente in the island’s relations with China.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that he had approved the visit, which was requested by local government officials. The officials had asked that the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader visit next week to comfort victims of the deadly typhoon that hit the island earlier this month.

China has long vilified the Dalai Lama for what it says are his efforts to pry Tibet from Chinese control — a charge the Buddhist spiritual leader denies. Beijing regularly uses its diplomatic heft to try to keep other nations from letting the Dalai Lama visit or meet with officials. A visit to Taiwan — which would be the spiritual leader’s first in eight years — is even more sensitive, because Beijing claims the democratically governed island as part of Chinese territory that must eventually return to its control.

China’s government didn’t immediately comment. Beijing, which has an interest in shoring up Mr. Ma’s government given its cooperative stance toward China, could opt for a restrained response. A spokesman for Mr. Ma stressed that the visit is a religious affair, and said “at this point we don’t think a religious event will damage” Taiwan-China relations. Mr. Wang said Taipei had not consulted with Beijing on the visit, adding that it was “solely an internal decision.” He declined to say if Mr. Ma might meet the Dalai Lama.

The planned visit is a big risk for Mr. Ma, who has made enhancing relations with China the centerpiece of his administration since taking office in May 2008. The improving ties between the two longtime foes have cooled tensions in one of the world’s biggest potential flash points.

But Mr. Ma has come under heavy criticism this month for the government’s allegedly slow response to Typhoon Morakot, which struck Taiwan on the weekend of Aug. 8, leaving 461 people dead and 192 missing, according to the latest tally.

The Dalai Lama is popular in Taiwan, which he previously visited in 1997 and 2001. Analysts were surprised that Mr. Ma agreed to the visit, but said he likely felt that the domestic political costs of being seen to block it likely outweighed the potential costs to ties with China. The president “would have faced more challenges from the domestic and international communities if he rejected the visit,” said Antonio Chiang, a former senior national security official under what is now the opposition party.