From www.savetibet.org ...

Dalai Lama and McCain meet
International Campaign for Tibet
July 25th, 2008

Aspen, Colorado, July 25, 2008: Arizona Senator John McCain, presumptive US presidential nominee of the Republican Party, accompanied by Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina), met in a private residence with the Dalai Lama this afternoon to discuss Tibet. The Dalai Lama frequently meets with US Senators but it is unusual for such meetings to take place out of Washington, DC. This is his first meeting with Senator McCain.

This spring Senator McCain was quick to condemn the Chinese government's crackdown following demonstrations across Tibet. Addressing the media after a meeting with French President Sarkozy in Paris on March 21, 2008, the Senator said, "That is not acceptable conduct from a world power, which China is." After meeting British Prime Minister Brown in London on March 20, 2008, McCain said. "There's a long history of Chinese treatment of the people in Tibet which is certainly not one that I think the Chinese should be proud of, and I hope that they would quickly respect the human rights of the people there."

Following the meeting, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama, said: "The Senator remains gravely concerned for those who have been imprisoned for expressing their political and religious beliefs and asked to be kept informed about the situation in Tibet. The meeting provided His Holiness an opportunity to express his gratitude for all the heartfelt support we are receiving and the serious efforts the international community is making to help resolve the situation. He also repeated that he is seeking autonomy for Tibet within the People's Republic of China."

Senator Barack Obama, presumptive 2008 US presidential nominee from the Democratic Party, met the Dalai Lama in 2005 at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee event, and has been in contact with the Dalai Lama recently.

Team HighPoint is ready to roll in it's quest to reach all 50 state highpoints with plans to travel to Arkansas and Wyoming within the next month. The top of Arkansas, Magazine Mountain (elevation 2,753 feet), is the 34th tallest state highpoint and is located in the Ozark National Forest in the west central part of the state. Two weeks after visiting Arkansas, Team HighPoint will be in the State of Wyoming taking on the 5th highest state highpoint, Gannett Peak (elevation 13,804 feet). The backpack approach hike to the base of the Wind River mountain range's tallest peak is the longest of any of the state highpoints (including Alaska). Team HighPoint hopes to arrive at the Gannett Peak high camp on the day of the opening Olympics ceremony in Beijing.

For more information about how the world community is in debate about China's hosting of the Olympics, please go to...

http://savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1335

On Tuesday, July 1st and Wednesday, July 2nd, the Dalai Lama's representatives will be meeting with the Chinese leadership to continue discussions about Tibetans and their homeland. For more information, please go to...

http://savetibet.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1332

The formal meeting will be held in Beijing, China.