China protested today over US president Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, saying Washington had interfered in its domestic affairs and demanding action to improve ties.
Yesterday’s meeting at the White House was seen as another test of rocky ties between Beijing and Washington, strained in recent weeks by issues from Taiwan arms sales to cyber-spying allegations.
But the language of the protest issued by the Foreign Ministry was relatively constrained, a reflection of the White House’s low-key treatment of the meeting with the exiled Tibetan leader and Beijing’s own desire to maintain healthy China-US relations.
The meeting was in the White House’s Map Room, a lower-profile venue than the Oval Office.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China expressed “strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition” to the meeting.
“The Chinese side demands that the US side seriously consider China’s stance, immediately adopt measures to wipe out the baneful impact and stop conniving and supporting anti-China separatist forces that seek Tibet independence,” said the statement, posted on the ministry’s website.
China claims the Dalai Lama seeks to remove Tibet from Chinese rule and objects strongly to all contact between him and overseas leaders.
The White House said Mr Obama told the Dalai Lama that he backed the preservation of Tibet’s culture and supported human rights for its people.
He also gave encouragement to the Dalai Lama’s request for talks with the Chinese government.
In consideration of China’s objections, there was no welcome fanfare and Mr Obama made no public comments, issuing only a brief statement through his spokesman.
The White House banned reporters and TV cameras, distributing a single photo of the two leaders.
Meetings between the Dalai Lama and US presidents became standard fare under former President George Bush senior nearly 20 years ago. But the choreography is always delicate and closely watched because of China’s sensitivities.
After the meeting, the Dalai Lama chided Beijing for taking a “childish” and “limited” approach to Tibet’s quest for greater autonomy and said Mr Obama had been “very much supportive” of his views on human rights and the concerns of the Tibetan people.
His envoy, Lodi Gyari, said Tibetans feeling marginalised by China would get encouragement from the session.
The 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner denies China’s accusations of separatism, saying he wants only for Tibetans to have a greater say over their affairs while remaining under Chinese rule.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and has since led a self-declared government-in-exiled in India.
China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries and sent communist forces to occupy the Himalayan region in 1950.
Many Tibetans say they were functionally independent for most of their history and accuse China of undermining Tibet’s unique Buddhist culture and flooding the region with Chinese migrants.
AP