Dalai Lama’s office says the spiritual leader has never met Epstein

NEW DELHI:  The office of the Dalai Lama said on Sunday that he had never met convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after Chinese media reported the Tibetan Buddhist leader’s name was mentioned in a cache of files released by the US government.

The US Justice Department published last month the latest tranche of the Epstein files — more than three million documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into the disgraced financier.

The Dalai Lama’s name was reportedly mentioned more than 150 times, with no mention of him meeting or interacting with Epstein.

The mere mention of someone’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person.

“Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the ‘Epstein files’ are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein,” the leader’s office said in a statement posted on X.

“We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf,” it added.

On Thursday, state-run broadcaster CGTN reported that “Dalai Lama” appeared at least 169 times in the Epstein files and mentioned an email in which an unknown sender told Epstein he was considering going to an event the Dalai Lama was set to attend.

The 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner fled the Tibetan capital Lhasa at the age of 23 after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959. He now lives in exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala and leads a push for greater autonomy for Tibetans that China has condemned, calling the spiritual leader a rebel and a separatist. Monitoring Desk