US President Barack Obama on Saturday received the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, for talks choreographed to be as low-key as possible, defying strident warnings from China.
An aide to the Dalai Lama said that the two Nobel Peace Prize winners began talking in the Map Room, part of the White House’s residence and away from the Oval Office where Presidents traditionally meet world leaders.
The White House did not allow reporters to witness the meeting and did not announce it until hours before the Dalai Lama was due to leave Washington, where he has spent 11 days leading thousands in a Buddhist meditation ritual called the kalchakra.
Despite the precautions, the meeting underscores US support for the Dalai Lama who fled his Chinese-ruled homeland in 1959 for India, where he has lived ever since. Beijing has sought to isolate the Dalai Lama on the world stage, aghast at his global popularity.
“This meeting underscores the President’s strong support for the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans,” the White House said in a statement.
“The President will highlight his enduring support for dialogue between the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the Chinese government to resolve differences,” it said.
China had warned the United States not to receive the Dalai Lama and lodged an official protest after the meeting was announced, warning that Mr Obama “could harm US-Chinese relations” if he went ahead. “We are firmly opposed to any foreign politician meeting the Dalai Lama in any form whatsoever,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of being a “splittist” bent on dividing China. The meeting is Mr Obama’s second in office with the Dalai Lama; his first, in February 2010, was also closed press in the Map Room. Former US President George W. Bush had openly met the Dalai Lama to award him a Congressional Gold Medal.
Mr Obama has faced persistent criticism at home for not highlighting human rights. His administration’s long silence on whether he would meet the Dalai Lama led several US legislators to conclude that he had rejected a meeting.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House foreign affairs committee, welcomed Mr Obama’s decision “to extend to the Dalai Lama the respect and courtesy he deserves as a globally respected leader”. She added: “This meeting is better late than never, but it remains disappointing that the Dalai Lama was squeezed in at the last minute after much apparent hemming-and-hawing from the White House due to objections from Beijing”.
“This shouldn’t have been such a difficult decision,” said Ms Ros-Lehtinen, who is a member of the rival Republican Party.— AFP