Dalai Lama visiting Australia next month Rudd keen to promote good Chinese relations Howard yet to respond to monk's invitation
KEVIN Rudd won't meet the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan spiritual leader visits Australia next month. The move will appease China; Mr Rudd is keen to promote good relations with the superpower if he becomes PM. Prime Minister John Howard is yet to respond to an invitation to meet the 71-year-old monk on what is likely to be his last trip to Australia. Mr Howard last met the exiled holy man 11 years ago, but avoided meeting him five years ago amid pressure from the Chinese Government. Organisers of the 11-day tour said Mr Rudd had "politely declined" to meet the Buddhist leader, who arrives in Australia on June 6. China asserts its sovereignty over Tibet and takes a dim view of those who meet the Dalai Lama. But critics accuse it of human rights abuses there.
