China hits out at US over Dalai Lama

BEIJING – China unleashed a fresh verbal tirade at the United States yesterday over the Dalai Lama’s warm reception in Washington, but analysts said threats of seriously damaged ties were overstated.

After US President George W Bush defied warnings from Beijing and met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader privately on Tuesday, China hit out at what it termed a ‘gross interference’ in its internal affairs. “China is strongly resentful of this and resolutely opposes it, and has made solemn representations to the US side,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.Later yesterday, the United States was set to anger China further with Bush handing the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest civilian award the Congress can bestow – at a lavish awards ceremony in Washington.The ceremony will be the first time a sitting US president has appeared in public with the Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Tuesday that the Dalai Lama’s meeting with Bush and the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony represented ‘a severe violation of the norms of international relations’.Spokesman Liu warned on Tuesday that Sino-US ties would be seriously damaged by the celebration of the Dalai Lama – whom China accuses of wanting independence for his homeland – and the state-run press on Wednesday kept up the pressure.”This event will certainly cast a shadow over the (China-US) relations.The US side must be held responsible for the consequences,” the state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial.US officials said China had already showed its anger at the encounter with Bush by postponing a planned meeting of world powers Wednesday in Berlin aimed at discussing the Iran nuclear crisis.China has also directed similar fury at Germany, Australia and other Western countries in recent months after their leaders met the Dalai Lama.But Tao Changsong, a researcher at China’s Tibetan Association of Social Science in the Himalayan region’s capital, Lhasa, said the Dalai Lama’s trip to Washington was unlikely to have a major long-term impact on Sino-US ties.”These kind of events happen all the time due to the different interests of different nations, only this time it involves the president (Bush) so China has to express itself more angrily,” Tao said.”However, Sino-US relations in principle won’t be affected very much because China needs a stable environment for its development, which is what can change the lives of Chinese people including in Tibet.”Nampa-AFP”China is strongly resentful of this and resolutely opposes it, and has made solemn representations to the US side,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.Later yesterday, the United States was set to anger China further with Bush handing the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest civilian award the Congress can bestow – at a lavish awards ceremony in Washington.The ceremony will be the first time a sitting US president has appeared in public with the Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Tuesday that the Dalai Lama’s meeting with Bush and the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony represented ‘a severe violation of the norms of international relations’.Spokesman Liu warned on Tuesday that Sino-US ties would be seriously damaged by the celebration of the Dalai Lama – whom China accuses of wanting independence for his homeland – and the state-run press on Wednesday kept up the pressure.”This event will certainly cast a shadow over the (China-US) relations.The US side must be held responsible for the consequences,” the state-run China Daily newspaper said in an editorial.US officials said China had already showed its anger at the encounter with Bush by postponing a planned meeting of world powers Wednesday in Berlin aimed at discussing the Iran nuclear crisis.China has also directed similar fury at Germany, Australia and other Western countries in recent months after their leaders met the Dalai Lama.But Tao Changsong, a researcher at China’s Tibetan Association of Social Science in the Himalayan region’s capital, Lhasa, said the Dalai Lama’s trip to Washington was unlikely to have a major long-term impact on Sino-US ties.”These kind of events happen all the time due to the different interests of different nations, only this time it involves the president (Bush) so China has to express itself more angrily,” Tao said.”However, Sino-US relations in principle won’t be affected very much because China needs a stable environment for its development, which is what can change the lives of Chinese people including in Tibet.”Nampa-AFP