Dalai Lama planning to come to Japan in April

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, is planning to come to Japan in April and the government is expected to allow the visit, sources said Sunday.

Dalai Lama

Permission for the Dalai Lama to visit would surely draw opposition from China and further strain bilateral relations.

The government issued a visa last week to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui for a personal trip despite a strong protest from China, which considers the island a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Japan-China relations have also been strained over repeated visits by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which Beijing regards as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Dubbing him a "separatist," China has been hostile toward the Dalai Lama as he is seen as the spiritual symbol for those seeking Tibetan independence from China.

But Japan is expected to permit his stay on condition he refrain from any political activities, according to the sources.

Accepting an invitation from a religious group, the Dalai Lama is scheduled to arrive at Narita airport on April 8 and deliver presentations in Tokyo, as well as Kumamoto and Ishikawa prefectures, before leaving April 19, according to the sources.

Excluding stopovers for transit, the Dalai Lama last visited Japan in fall 2003, in response to an invitation from a group of lawmakers interested in Tibet-related issues.

China has been sensitive about his visits to Japan, particularly since August 2001 when the Dalai Lama sent a personal letter to Koizumi through a senior Japanese government official, the sources said.

China issued a strong protest in November 2002 when a senior vice minister of Japan's Cabinet Office held talks with the Dalai Lama during a stopover.

At a foreign ministerial meeting in April 2003, China officially demanded that Japan refuse to allow the Dalai Lama to visit.