"It does not matter where His Holiness go[es], the Chinese are trying to put a lot of pressure on the organizers and even on the participants. It is their usual, routine work. The Dalai Lama does not have any problem with that because he has his own stand on that," Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Geneva Ngodup Dorjee said.
According to Dorjee, China does not understand the Dalai Lama’s sincerity.
"So they just unnecessary create problems during his visits. It is up to the UN diplomat either to attend the meeting or not," Dorjee stressed.
China led a military assault on Tibet in 1950 which ended in the signing of the "Seventeen Point Agreement" with Tibetan leaders in 1951, giving Beijing control over the region's external affairs and establishing a military regime there. China believes that the region has been part of its territory for centuries.
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled Tibet in 1959 after an armed uprising against the Chinese authorities failed. He lives in Dharamsala, India, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. In 2011, the Dalai Lama resigned from the Tibetan government, yet China still considers him to be a separatist. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.