China denounces Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama
China has demanded that the United States take urgent steps to "eliminate the pernicious impact" of yesterday's meeting
Friday, 19, Feb 2010 11:42
By Ciara Trudeau.
China has condemned US president Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, calling it a "gross violation" and suggesting it will undermine relations between the two countries.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu expressed his "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to yesterday's meeting.
"The US act grossly violated basic norms of international relations and the principles set out in joint statements under which the United States pledged to respect Chinese sovereignty," he said in a statement.
Mr Zhaoxu has demanded that the United States take urgent steps to "eliminate the pernicious impact" of the White House meeting, although no specific reprisals were unveiled.
He added that yesterday's meeting violated the US government's "repeated acknowledgment that Tibet is part of China and that it does not support Tibet independence".
China's vice foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, today summoned US ambassador Jon Hunstman to lodge "solemn representations" over the meeting.
The Dalai Lama's 45-minute meeting with the US president had been meticulously planned and was held in part of the private residence instead of the Oval Office. It was not followed by the usual press conference and official photograph, but by a meeting with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "The president stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China.
"The president commended the Dalai Lama's 'middle way' approach, his commitment to non-violence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government."
Chinese officials, having repeatedly warned against the meeting, swiftly denounced the US president's pledge to support Tibetan rights.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, who has built up a large global following, of plotting to split up China and dismissed his conciliatory approach as insincere.
The 74-year-old monk, who said he was "very happy" with the meeting, made a point of speaking with reporters outside the White House before engaging in an impromptu snow ball fight.
He did not specify how he expected President Obama to support Tibetans, saying: "I think time will tell. Fifty years have passed. We have never given up hope."
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader has met with every American president for nearly two decades. Last year, Mr Obama turned down an invitation to meet with his fellow Nobel prize winner due to time constraints.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled his embattled nation to set up a government in exile in India. Over the last 50 years he has repeatedly appealed to global political leaders to support Tibetan independence but in recent years has shifted his focus to the "middle way" seeking increased rights for Tibetans in the Chinese occupied territory.