China Communist Party official: India losing dignity by playing with Dalai Lama

A top Chinese Communist Party official on Thursday launched a scathing attack on India over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying India was "losing its dignity as a big power".

The unprecedented comment from Zhu Weiqun, a top party official who is head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, or Upper House of Parliament, came a day after the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned India had "obstinately disregarded" Chinese concerns and doing so would "escalate border disputes".

Zhu was earlier deputy head of the top Party body in charge of Tibet policy, the United Front Work Department, and was also tasked with the now stalled talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives.

"India is losing its dignity as a big power by playing around with such a figure," Zhu told the Global Times, a party-run tabloid published by the official People's Daily.

In a separate editorial on Thursday, the Global Times described the visit as "a clumsy and rude move". "The Dalai is a highly politicized symbol in China's diplomacy. For any country, its attitude toward the Dalai Lama almost affects the entire relationship with China."

The paper said the Dalai Lama's current visit was different from the previous six visits, the last of which was in 2009, because "he is received and accompanied by India's junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju. When China raised the concern over the visit, Rijiju commented that China shouldn't intervene in their 'internal affairs," it said.

The paper accused Delhi of "long attempt[ing] to use the Dalai Lama as a card". "When India emphasizes the relationship with China, it would place a tight control on the Dalai. When it has a grudge against China, it may prompt the Dalai to play certain tricks as a signal sent to China," it said.

"Recently, India has been strongly dissatisfied with China for not supporting its membership bid to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Its request to name Masood Azhar, head of Pakistani militant group, to a UN Security Council blacklist was disapproved by China, resulting in some Indians calling for a boycott of Chinese goods. The Dalai's visit to Arunachal Pradesh this time is seen as New Delhi using the monk as a diplomatic tool to put pressure on China."

The editorial added, "New Delhi probably overestimates its leverage in the bilateral ties with China. The two countries in recent years have continuously strived to improve their relationship and the peace on the border area has been maintained. India has benefited from the good momentum of bilateral relationship as much as China. If New Delhi ruins the Sino-India ties and the two countries turn into open rivals, can India afford the consequence?"