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China considers
the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader a dangerous
separatist, and ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular
briefing the meeting would encourage "separatist forces".
"If the United States plans this meeting, it will send the wrong
signal to Tibet independence and separatist forces and harm
China-U.S. mutual trust and cooperation," Lu said.
Any attempt to take advantage of the Tibet issue and undermine
stability would not succeed, Lu said, saying China "resolutely
opposed" the plan.
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, Lu said.
Obama met the Dalai Lama when the latter visited Washington in
2014 and angered China then when he vowed "strong support" for
Tibetans' human rights.
China describes the incorporation of Tibet into its territory in
1951 as a "peaceful liberation", and says it has brought
development to what was a backward region.
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.
China says Tibet already has genuine autonomy, and exile groups
seek to split the country. Tibetans accuse China of eroding
their Buddhist culture and flooding the region with ethnic Han
Chinese.
The Dalai Lama told Reuters on Monday that Obama was a "a
long-time friend" whom he admired for his work to normalize
relations with Cuba, and on Iran, and for his recent visits to
former U.S. foe Vietnam and the site of the Hiroshima atomic
bombing in Japan.
Lu said the Dalai Lama was not a purely religious figure, but a
political exile who has long used religion to conduct separatist
and anti-China activities.
(Reporting By Michael Martina; Writing By Megha Rajagopalan;
Editing by Robert Birsel)
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