The Dalai Lama says he isn't too concerned with the results of the US presidential election.
"I feel during the election, the candidate has more freedom to express. Now once they (are) elected, having the responsibility, then they have to carry their co-operation, their work, according (to) reality,'' he told reporters in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. "So I have no worries.''
The Nobel-Prize winner also said he intended to visit with the president-elect once he is inaugurated in January.
"His holiness has always put great hope in the US as a champion of democracy. He hopes for continued support from the new president and his government," said Tenzin Dhardon Sharling, a spokeswoman for the self-declared Tibetan government in exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala.
She said the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community have enjoyed good relations with successive US presidents and expected that to continue under a Trump administration.
The Nobel-Peace Prize winning monk had already playfully kicked off a relationship between the two with his own impersonation of the president-elect.
In the video, the Dalai Lama jokes about Trump’s hair and his mouth, which he called “small” while pinching his fingers together.
“That’s my impression,” he joked to Piers Morgan, “But I don’t know.” He added also that he had yet to meet him, but that he had "no worries."
Since then, the Dalai Lama and Tibet’s ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, have congratulated Mr. Trump on his election.
The announcement of his intended visit could well ruffle feathers of the Chinese government, who have longed dogged his steps internationally. That’s because they view him as something of a separatist; since 1959, the Dalai Lama has been exiled from China following the government’s annexation of Tibet.
Most recently, China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geng Shuang, urged Mongolia to deny the monk’s visit to the country. “We hope that people can see clearly the anti-China, separatist essence of the Dalai Lama,” said Shuang in a statement.
Despite those warnings, President Obama has met with the Dalai Lama four times in the past eight years, most recently this past June.
Read More:Obama Honors Ellen DeGeneres and LGBT Rights With Medal of Freedom
At the time, the White House released a statement emphasizing Obama’s “ strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions and the equal protection of human rights of Tibetans in China,” while making clear that the United States does not support Tibetan Independence.
So it’s likely that, if, or when, the Dalai Lama next visits the White House, it will be to reassess how the Trump presidency will stand on the Tibetan issue.
In his congratulatory note to Mr. Trump, Dr. Sangay put the issue front and center.
“As you have promised in your victory speech, 'to deal fairly with everyone' in the world community while keeping the national interest at front, we appeal to you and your Administration to use your good offices to continue your support for the peaceful resolution of the Tibetan issue through dialogue," wrote Sangay.
It awaits to be seen how Trump will approach that issue, which, pending a Dalai Lama visit, may or may not play a role in the former businessman’s dealings with China.