Donald Trump didn’t decline meeting Dalai Lama tweeted Michael Pillsbury who was accused in a report by The Hindu of revealing that Trump declined meeting with the Dalai Lama. The news article published by well established Indian News Paper, The Hindi, “Is Trump preparing to change the script on Tibet?” was deemed fake news by Mr. Pillsbury a top advisor of Donald Trump’s transition team, just hours after publishing the article.
“A top advisor of Donald Trump’s transition team, on a visit to China, has revealed that the U.S. President-elect had declined the Dalai Lama’s request for a meeting, signalling the new administration’s openness to a policy review on Tibet.” said the report in The Hindu
Michael Pillsbury demanded the retraction of the news report by The Hindu through a tweet:
“Fake news retraction demanded from Mr. Atul Aneja in The Hindu online faked anti- Trump news Trump did not reject meeting Dalai Lama.”
Besides this, Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay also responded to the fake news as “Pillsbury wrote me an email last night rubbishing the news and said he supports a meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.” according to the report from Central Tibetan Administration.
According to the Central Tibetan Administration’s report, Nima Binara, a cybersecurity lawyer in Washington DC, “this article was from The Hindu, supposedly quoting Ming Pao, supposedly quoting CCTV, supposedly quoting Michael Pillsbury when he was in China. The Hindu is edited by N. Ram, who enthusiastically supports China’s rule in Tibet. Also it’s well known that Chinese media freely invent quotes and attribute them to visiting foreign guests.”
“This is all to say: in the age of information warfare and weaponized ‘fake news,’ we must all be vigilant and cautious. It’s useful to see this article because it suggests that China and its allies are nervous that something may be afoot relating to Tibet,” said Nima.
This means that it is clear China is playing information war by using their hands in the international media and spread fake news reports in reputed news media companies. It is also clear that United States is not changing its stance on Tibet and Dalai Lama as the China demands.