China opposes Obama aides' meeting with Dalai Lama

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Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche (left), greets senior adviser to the US president Valerie Jarrett in Dharamshala. — AFP

BEIJING, Sept 15 (AFP): China said Tuesday it "firmly opposed" any meetings between foreign officials and the Dalai Lama, after top aides to US President Barack Obama met the Tibetan spiritual leader in India.
"China's position on Tibet-related issues is very clear. We are firmly opposed to any foreign official meeting with the Dalai Lama," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.
"The US side is very clear about China's position."
Obama has pledged support for the Dalai Lama but will not meet him during his upcoming visit to Washington, taking his own "Middle Way" and outraging some Tibet activists.
A White House delegation including Valerie Jarrett, Obama's close Chicago friend and adviser, met Monday with Tibet's spiritual leader in his home in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamshala.
Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said that Jarrett conveyed Obama's "respect" for the Nobel Peace laureate who has spent 50 years in exile.
"Tibetan religion and culture have made significant contributions to the world and the president wished Ms Jarrett through her visit to honor them," Hammer said.
He said the Dalai Lama told the delegation of his pacifist "Middle Way" approach of seeking a future for Tibet within China, which sent troops into the Himalayan territory in 1950.
"We think his views deserve our attention and that of the Chinese government," Hammer said.
He did not comment on whether Obama would meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits Washington next month on his latest tour of North America.
But the Dalai Lama, in a statement released by his office, said that he "looks forward to meeting with President Obama after (Obama's) visit to China," which is not scheduled until November.
China-now the biggest holder of the ballooning US debt-has been using its growing global clout to pressure nations not to meet with the Buddhist leader, accusing him of being a separatist.