The office of the Dalai Lama stated on Sunday that the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, mentioned in the Epstein files, has “never met” Jeffrey Epstein.
Millions of documents from Epstein’s files, released by the US Department of Justice and reviewed by AFP, include the Dalai Lama’s name 154 times. However, there is no evidence or suggestion of a meeting between him and Epstein.
Chinese state-owned media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported on Thursday that the Dalai Lama’s name appeared at least 169 times in the files. CGTN claimed that a censored 2012 email mentioned an event on an island where “the Dalai Lama would be coming.”
In response, the Dalai Lama’s office released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying recent media and social media posts attempting to link him to Epstein are unfounded.
The statement assured, “We can confirm unequivocally that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein and has never authorised anyone to meet or interact with him on his behalf.”
It added that the presence of someone’s name in the Epstein files does not suggest that the person engaged in any wrongdoing.
Jeffrey Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for charges related to the sexual trafficking of minors.
China, which considers Tibet an integral part of its territory, regularly criticises the Dalai Lama, accusing him of being a separatist and a political agitator for campaigning for greater autonomy for Tibet throughout his life.
