President Obama met with the exiled tibetan leader recently as confirmed by US officials despite warnings from China to cancel the meeting or risk damaging China-US relations.
China described the Dalai Lama as a separatist, Mr Obama said that during the talks, the Dalai Lama stated that he hoped talks between China and the tibetans would be re opened again.
The last meeting in 2011 also angered China at the time who have been widely accused of repressing religious and political freedoms in Tibet.
China was quick to respond to the meetings when Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui summoning US charge d’affaires Daniel Kritenbrink to protest against the encounter. He said,
“The Tibetan issue is the domestic affair of China, and the United States bears no right to interfere,” he added.
“Such a move will gravely sabotage China-US co-operation and relations, and will definitely undermine its own interests.”
The White House was quick to issue a response of its own,
“We do not support Tibetan independence,” they said, adding that the US “strongly supports human rights and religious freedom in China.
“We are concerned about continuing tensions and the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibetan areas of China.”
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.
He now advocates a “middle way” with Beijing, seeking autonomy but not independence.
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