Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is greeted on his 75th birthday in Dharmsala, India.
The Dalai Lama will visit Canada in October, and while Canada-China relations have been destabilized by previous warm welcomes for the exiled Tibetan leader, his latest visit is not expected to raise the ire of Chinese officials.
The Tibetan spiritual leader will speak at Toronto's Rogers Centre on Oct. 22 - organizers expect 30,000 people to attend - and hold private teachings at the cultural centre in Toronto that weekend.
An honorary Canadian citizen since 2006, the Dalai Lama has met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his predecessor, Paul Martin, on previous visits.
The Chinese government, which regards the 75-year-old exile as a separatist, criticized Mr. Harper in 2007 when he formally met with the Dalai Lama at his Parliament Hill office.
"The Canadian attitude towards the Dalai Lama is that he is not the leader of a government in exile, but that he is a spiritual and cultural figure," said Charles Burton, an expert on Canada-China relations at Brock University.
He said China doesn't appear to have followed through on its threats of repercussions, perhaps because the government sees its relationship with Canada as more economic than political. "It seems to be mostly menacing language that doesn't lead to any consequence," he said.
The Dalai Lama has lived in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala since 1959, when he led an uprising against China's control of Tibet. More recently, he has called for Tibetan autonomy and preservation of its culture and language within the framework of the Chinese constitution.
The Dalai Lama was last in Canada in the fall of 2009 and made stops in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.