China warns against Dalai Lama meeting

BEIJING – China warned President Barack Obama yesterday 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 would meet the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader reviled by Beijing as a separatist for seeking self-rule for his mountain homeland.China’s angry response reflected deepening tension between the world’s biggest and third-biggest economies, with Beijing noting that President Hu Jintao himself urged Obama not to meet the exiled Tibetan leader.Ma Zhaoxu, a 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.’During Hu’s summit with Obama in Beijing last November, the Chinese leader ‘explained China’s stern position of resolutely opposing any government leaders and officials meeting the Dalai,’ said Ma.’We urge the US 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-US relations,’ said Ma.China’s ire at the White House announcement was predictable, as was the White House’s confirmation of the meeting, which has long been flagged.But the flare-up comes soon after Beijing lashed Washington over a $6,4 billion US weapons package for Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing deems an illegitimate breakaway province.It also comes during Sino-US tensions over the value of China’s currency, trade protectionism and Internet freedoms.Beijing has become increasingly assertive about opposing the Dalai Lama’s meetings with foreign leaders, and the issue is a volatile theme among patriotic Chinese, who see Western criticism of Chinese policy in Tibet as meddling. – Nampa-Reuters