He wears a robe, gives inspiring talks, and has millions of followers around the world. He is also, according to one Chinese official, part of an alliance between terrorist organisations, democratic countries and spiritual groups plotting to split China.
A little more than a year from the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese regime's verbal attacks on Tibet's most prominent spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, have changed little since Beijing pledged to host the Games in 2001.
"At the time the Olympics were awarded to China, the IOC [International Olympic Committee] said that it would be a force for good in China, but that doesn't seem to be the way things are going," said Paul Bourke, Executive Officer of the Australian Tibet Council.
"China intends to use the Olympics to gain legitimacy within the international community. But at the same time they are continuing their repression of Tibetans and human rights activists within China."
Strangely enough, many Western Governments have succumbed to Beijing's pressure not to meet with the Dalai Lama, who is vocal on human rights in Tibet after fleeing the territory in 1959.
Last month the Belgian Government requested that the spiritual leader not attend an international Tibetan conference. Next week, during the Dalai Lama's visit to Australia, Prime Minister Howard remains undecided on whether to meet him. Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd, however, has confirmed he will meet His Holiness.
In a particularly bizarre speech last week from Tibet's Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli, the Dalai Lama was accused of "ganging up with Taiwan independence forces, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, democracy movements and the Falun Gong in an attempt to establish an alliance aimed at splitting the motherland."
Such hostile statements make Paul Bourke doubt whether ethnic minorities such as the Tibetan people will feel the 2008 Olympic spirit.
"China seems to be out of touch with the rest of the world in their view of the Dalai Lama," he said. "The Dalai Lama is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he is recognised around the world as a great spokesperson for peace, for compassion, for religious tolerance."
Mr Bourke questions the regime's sincerity in throwing accusations at the Dalai Lama on one hand, while on the other hand meeting with his representatives to talk about the future of Tibet, using the Tibetan antelope as an Olympic mascot and plotting the Olympic torch route through Tibet.
"In terms of inclusion of any of the [ethnic] minorities, China's aim really is just to use these groups for their own political aims," he said.
The Chinese regime's activities in Tibet draw concern from abroad, with human rights watchdog Amnesty International's 2007 report covering the ongoing imprisonment of Buddhist monks and nuns for expressing their religious views. The report included eyewitness accounts of Chinese border guards shooting at a group of Tibetan nuns attempting to reach Nepal, killing at least one child.
China has warned countries not to meet with the Dalai Lama, who is vocal on human rights in Tibet after fleeing the territory in 1959. Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has confirmed he will meet His Holiness when he comes to Australia next month, but Prime Minister John Howard has not yet announced his decision
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