A Chinese official warned on Wednesday that a scheduled meeting between President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama in Washington would “undermine mutual trust and cooperation” between the two countries.
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China considers the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader a risky separatist, and ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing the meeting would encourage “separatist forces”.
It was the fourth time the president met at the White House with the Dalai Lama, who China calls a risky separatist.
The President met today with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.
When the Dalai Lama visited Britain again three years later, Cameron avoided him, something the Tibetan spiritual leader suggested was because of concerns about trade. He also diplomatically added that the U.S. position of considering Tibet a part of China had not changed.
But U.S. policy that Tibet is a part of China has not changed, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
“The 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile who has always been engaged in anti-China separatist plots under the cloak of religion”.
Afterward, the White House said the Dalai Lama extended condolences for Sunday’s terror attack in Orlando, but declined to provide further details of the discussion.
Obama expressed support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions and the equal protection of human rights of Tibetans in China.
Any change in USA policy toward Tibet could have withering effects for the U.S.
The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, will be closed-door to avoid angering China, who sees the Dalai Lama as a risky separatist. “And the United States has not articulated our support for Tibetan independence”.
In a white paper released past year, the Chinese government claimed the Dalai Lama and his followers were hatching a plan towards Tibetan independence.
Asked by Reuters if it was time for a female leader in the United States, he said, “that’s up to the people of this country”, although he added that past female world leaders such as India’s Indira Gandhi, Israel’s Golda Meir, Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and Germany’s Angela Merkel had set good examples.
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The Dalai Lama has also increasingly spoken of succession and has not ruled out picking his reincarnation before his death, fearing that China would instead pick its own boy whom it would use to advance its agenda.
