WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, at the White House on Wednesday despite a warning by China that this would damage diplomatic relations.
The meeting came at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and China over Beijing’s assertive pursuit of territorial claims in East Asia.
It was Obama’s fourth meeting at the White House with the Dalai Lama in the past eight years and it took place in the White House residence, instead of the Oval Office where the president normally meets world leaders.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the choice of the residence emphasized the “personal nature of their meeting.”
He said Obama had thanked the Dalai Lama for the condolences he has expressed for the victims of Sunday’s mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Florida.
Earnest added that Obama had in the past spoken of his “warm personal feelings” for the Dalai Lama, appreciation of his teachings, and belief “in preserving Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions.”
At the same time, Earnest said the U.S. position of considering Tibet as part of China had not changed.
China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier it had lodged diplomatic representations with the United States over the planned meeting, saying it would damage Chinese-U.S. ties.
China considers the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist, and ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing the meeting would encourage “separatist forces.”
Obama last met the Dalai Lama at the White House in 2014 and angered China then when he vowed “strong support” for Tibetans’ human rights.
Lu said China urged the United States to abide by its promises to recognize that Tibet is part of China and cease any support for Tibet independence.
The Dalai Lama, who fled from Tibet into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, says he wants genuine autonomy for Tibet, not independence.
In an interview on Monday, the Dalai Lama said the disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea should be resolved through dialogue.
He said China faced no threat from other Asia countries and as a big and ancient nation should pursue reconciliation and friendship. “Long term, it’s in China’s own interests,” he said. “Trust and friendship with neighboring countries is essential; including the United States also.”
On Wednesday, a Chinese observation ship shadowed the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis in the Western Pacific, the carrier’s commander said, as it joined warships from Japan and India for drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard.
The show of U.S. naval power came as Japan and the United States worry China is extending its influence into the Western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes territorial claims in the neighboring South China Sea, expanding and building on islands.
China has been angered by what it views as provocative U.S. military patrols close to the islands. The United States says the patrols are to protect freedom of navigation.
On Tuesday, China also warned the United States to stick to its “one-China” policy over Taiwan ahead of an overseas trip by Taipei’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, in which she will transit though Miami from June 24-25 and Los Angeles from June 30-July 1 on her way to and from Panama and Paraguay.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, Anna Richey-Allen, said the visit would be “private and unofficial” and the transits would be handled in accordance with the “unofficial nature of the (U.S.) relationship with Taiwan.”
“There is no change to the U.S. ‘One-China’ policy,” she said, adding that Tsai would be greeted as a courtesy in Miami by Joe Donovan, acting chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, and in Los Angeles by Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the institute. The AIT is a de facto embassy that handles U.S. relations with Taiwan.
DAVID BRUNNSTROM
