Foreign Minister deletes Dalai Lama attack from blog
BOB Carr has removed an attack on the Dalai Lama from his personal blog where he described the spiritual leader as a "cunning monk."
Australia's next foreign minister, Mr Carr said his views on the Thoughtlines blog were personal ones, but he did not want them to distract from his plum job.
"I thought it might have been better expressed," Mr Carr said.
In a June 2011 post titled "Don't Meet This Cunning Monk", Mr Carr urged Australian political leaders not to meet with the Buddhist leader.
"The Prime Minister should feel no obligation to meet the Dalai Lama, indeed should feel an obligation not to meet him. He is a religious leader but also a cunning one with a political agenda. His agenda is not in Australia's interest," Mr Carr wrote.
"His strategy is to keep ... forcing his presence on Canberra, presumably to generate ill-feeling between us and the Chinese."
