Dharamsala:
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has hit out at China saying it is built on lies and its officials are hypocrites. The Dalai Lama was speaking via videophone after visa problems prevented him from joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu's birthday celebrations in South Africa. He was to be travelling there to celebrate Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday.
For more than an hour, two old friends brought together by technology, giggled and teased one another, as they exchanged views on politics and spirituality. During the exchange, Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked the Dalai Lama why the global giant and South Africa's main trade partner, China, feared his fellow Nobel peace laureate so much.
In his answers, the Dalai Lama, who was sitting in a room decorated with orchids and silk hangings in his home in exile in India, was playful at first.
He said communist propaganda portrayed him as a ''demon,'' an answer which drew laughter from Tutu and others watching him on a video screen at the University of the Western Cape, near Cape Town.
The encounter was streamed live on the Internet, but not broadcast by South African state television as had been expected.
The Dalai Lama spoke about communist officials and those in other totalitarian systems: "In a communist, totalitarian system, and not only communist but many totalitarian systems, hypocrisy, telling lies, has unfortunately become part of their lives. So, you see someone who tells the truth, honestly, truthfully, transparently, those people who carry hypocrites are a way of life, then feel uncomfortable."
The Dalai Lama added that the Chinese people should be able to hear his views and judge for themselves. "Censorship is immoral," he said. He also called for legal reforms in China. "The Chinese judiciary system must raise themselves up to international law standards," he said.
So far South African officials have denied that they stalled the Dalai Lama's visa, because of pressure from China. They said the visa process was delayed by problems with the timing and completeness of the application. But officials from the offices of Tutu and the Dalai Lama have denied the application was late or incomplete.
China has a long history of run-ins with the Dalai Lama accusing him of being a ''separatist.'' The Dalai Lama however insists he is only seeking increased autonomy for Tibet.
Tutu, often described as South Africa's conscience, had called the African National Congress-led government worse than the country's former oppressive white regime for not issuing the visa. He also accused the government of failing to side with "Tibetans who are being oppressed viciously by the Chinese."
Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his nonviolent campaign against white racist rule in South Africa. The Nobel committee recognised the Dalai Lama in 1989 for his peaceful efforts to "preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people."