Hong Kong’s leading celebrities warned against fraternising with ‘splittist’ Dalai Lama
Faye Wong, Tony Leung and Hu Jun attend event honouring revered late Buddhist leader, earning a rebuke from Tibetan official
PUBLISHED : Monday, 07 March, 2016, 8:40pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 08 March, 2016, 2:21am
Zhen Liu
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The Dalai Lama was a “defector, separatist’ and [one who is] jeopardising Tibet’s stable development, said Wu Yingjie, deputy party secretary of Tibet. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong celebrities were warned on Monday to stay away from Dalai Lama and his staff by a senior official of Tibet.
Renowned singer Faye Wong, actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai as well as mainland actor Hu Jun were pictured attending a Buddhist assembly in India with members of the Tibetan government-in-exile last month.
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Wu Yingjie, deputy party secretary of Tibet (西藏), described the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader in exile as a “defector, separatist, and [one who is] jeopardising Tibet’s stable development” to reporters during the annual parliamentary session.
Chinese pop singer Faye Wong was among those warned. Photo: AP
The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India when he was 23 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and has since lived there. His followers formed a self-claimed Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, which is accused by Beijing of trying to split Tibet from the mainland.
“We firmly oppose all celebrities, however influential they are, and whatever purpose they have, to make any contact with the 14th Dalai clique, or even help him spread his ideas,” said Wu on the sideline of the National People’s Congress.
Tibetan authorities also warned Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Photo: Felix Wong
The celebrities were attending an event on February 14 commemorating the 92nd anniversary of the birth of the late predecessor of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Tibetan Buddhism’s third-highest spiritual leader, the Karmapa’s office said.
Two senior Dharamsala officials photographed sitting together with the celebrities were identified by media as its home minister Drolma Gyari, and parliament speaker Penpa Tsering. The administration said the event was not political, and the Karmapa’s office said the encounter was “coincidental”.
State-backed media in China had criticised the celebrities. Wong and Leung did not comment. Hu wrote a statement on his social media account saying he did not know there were any separatists present.
“As celebrities, especially superstars, they are public figures that bear certain social responsibilities,” Wu said. “We hope the celebrities to take the responsibility for their own deeds.”
