Responsive Image

China warns against Obama-Dalai Lama meeting

Originally published by The Washington Post, 3 February 2010

BEIJING (Reuters) – China warned President Barack Obama on Wednesday that a meeting between him and the Dalai Lama would further erode ties between the two powers, already troubled by Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Obama will meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader reviled by Beijing as a “separatist” for seeking self-rule for his homeland.

China’s response to the announcement underscored the tensions in ties between the world’s biggest and third biggest economies, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying President Hu Jintao himself had urged Obama not to meet the exiled Tibetan leader.

Ma Zhaoxu, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said his government “resolutely opposes the leader of the United States having contact with the Dalai under any pretext or in any form,” according to a statement on the ministry’s website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

Ma said that during Obama’s summit with Hu last November, the Chinese leader “explained China’s stern position of resolutely opposing any government leaders and officials meeting the Dalai.”

“We urge the U.S. to fully grasp the high sensitivity of the Tibetan issues, to prudently and appropriately deal with related matters, and avoid bringing further damage to China-U.S. relations,” said Ma.

Click here to read the article in full:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020300076_pf.html