Taiwan does not plan to meet with the Dalai Lama

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has decided not to see the Dalai Lama during his visit next year to Taiwan.

" 'The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan twice, and we generally welcome all religious leaders to visit, but at the current moment, the timing isn't appropriate for that,' he told foreign media in Taipei.

He declined to say when the visit might be welcomed, but political observers said Ma was apparently reluctant to displease China by hosting the Dalai Lama as cross-strait relations have improved.

In what would be his first visit in seven years and an apparent reversal of a policy of avoiding the island for fear of angering China, last week the Dalai Lama told Elta TV in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamsala that he hoped to visit Taiwan in 2009."