Obama to meet Dalai Lama despite China opposition
Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:48:40 GMT


Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The White House has rejected China's demand for US President Barack Obama to cancel his next week meeting with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu issued a statement Friday, urging the United States to "immediately withdraw" plans for a meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama.

Ma indicated that the meeting could further hurt Sino-American relations, which are already strained over a US arms sale to Taiwan, disagreements over China's currency exchange rate, US concerns over Chinese internet censorship and disagreement over Iran sanctions.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, said that "the meeting will take place as planned next Thursday."

Beijing regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, accusing him of advocating Tibet's independence from Chinese rule.

The Dalai Lama rejects the accusation, and says he wants partial autonomy for the Himalayan region.

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