DATE=8/11/2000 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP TITLE=SNUBBING THE DALAI LAMA AT THE U-N NUMBER=6-11967 BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS TELEPHONE=619-3335 INTERNET=YES CONTENT= INTRO: A controversy is brewing around the failure of the United Nations to invite the exiled Tibetan religious leader, the Dalai Lama, to an upcoming conference of world religious figures at the U-N's New York headquarters at the end of August. We get a sampling of American editorial comment on the conflict now from __________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup. TEXT: The conference is titled the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. It will bring together more than one thousand religious figures from around the world to discuss the quest for peace and how to achieve it. Many U-S papers are pointing out the folly of having such a conference without inviting one of the most famous religious and spiritual leaders of our time. The conference is privately funded by several foundations and Cable News Network founder Ted Turner, under the auspices of the United Nations. That caused the Chinese Ambassador to pressure U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan to exclude the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after China seized control of the country in 1949. The Chinese do not want to be reminded of the opposition to their occupation of Tibet at such a gathering. We begin our sampling with this comment from Hawaii's Honolulu's Advertiser: VOICE: United Nations officials are guilty, profoundly and absurdly, of confusing spirituality with politics. It is this confusion that has led them to omit the Dalai Lama, who was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, from the one-thousand invitations it sent to religious leaders for the ... summit. ... The U- N's confusion is fed by its fear of offending China. China, to be sure, is touchy in the extreme about any perceived intrusion into its "internal affairs." "China would object vehemently to his presence here because they consider Tibet to be Chinese territory, and the Dalai Lama challenges that," said U-N spokesman Fred Eckhard. The Dalai Lama's spiritual teachings have swayed millions on this globe in the direction of love, tolerance and nonviolence. As such, his presence at the peace summit is essential - - whatever China says. TEXT: In the southwest, the Tulsa [Oklahoma] World says politics has n o place determining the guest list. VOICE: Nowhere is that more important than in the United States. So... the United Nations should ignore China's selfish and politically motivated demand and invite the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama. TEXT: The Boston Globe writes: VOICE: By bowing to opposition from China, [Secretary General Annan and his colleagues placed themselves in ... a truly bizarre contradiction. If more than one- thousand religious and spiritual leaders have been invited to ... assist [the] world body in ... resolving conflicts and making peace, then ...there can be no logical reason to exclude the Tibetan Buddhist leader who has succeeded Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior as the world's most eminent apostle of nonviolence. /// OPT /// To his credit, [Secretary Annan] did not try to hide the motive for leaving the Dalai Lama off the summit's invitation list. Said Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard: "China would object vehemently to his presence here because they consider Tibet their territory and the Dalai Lama challenges that." /// END OPT /// TEXT: The New York Times is not happy with the decision either. VOICE: Geopolitics has tainted the ... summit ... China detests the Dalai Lama because he is a symbol of the distinctive Tibetan culture Beijing has been trying to destroy for the past 41 years. China regularly uses its power as a member of the Security Council to block his participation in U-N sponsored events. The Dalai Lama has told the conference organizers ... they should go ahead without him. But it would be better to take a stand against his unjustifiable exclusion. The conference's chief financial underwriter, Ted Turner, and the religious leaders planning to attend should make clear that if the U-N is not prepared to reverse itself, they will move the conference to another location. TEXT: For its part, The Washington Post says of the snub: VOICE: ... China's veto turns what was planned as a showcase for the power of faith into a case study in the power of power. TEXT: Across the capital, the Washington Times agrees: VOICE: Hosting a millennium summit in the name of peace when the event's organizers allow a brutal regime and routine violator of human rights to dictate who may attend the summit is a shameful farce. Any party associated with the event, including the attendees, will be tainted by this exclusion. In his typical gracious style, the Dalai Lama has said the summit should go on without him, but those invited must question if they should attend if the Tibetan leader is left out. TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of editorial opinion regarding what some papers are calling the "blacklisting" of the Dalai Lama at a world conference of religious leaders set for the United Nations headquarters in late August. NEB/ANG/KL 11-Aug-2000 15:07 PM LOC (11-Aug-2000 1907 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .