RSSChina Urges U.S. to Cancel Meeting with Dalai Lama
Feb 12
China China, politics No Comments
Some articles were putting Obama and the Dalai Lama on a similar level, this is just nonsense. Here are a few articles about this latest Chinese issue.
Obama’s plans to meet Dalai Lama
Saibal Dasgupta, TNN, 12 February 2010, 07:29pm IST
BEIJING: China on Friday reiterated its warning to the US president Barack Obama that meeting the Dalai Lama would cause serious damage to Sino-US relationship. The Chinese foreign ministry issued the renewed warning after the White House in Washington announced a firm date for the meeting between the Tibetan leader and Obama.
The Obama’s scheduled meeting with the Tibetan leader on February 18 has some implications for India’s foreign policy besides making it even more difficult for Beijing to convince the world that he is a dangerous separatist bent on splitting China.
“China urges the US… to immediately call off the wrong decision of arranging for President Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama… to avoid any more damage to Sino-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said. “We urge the US side to fully understand the high sensitivity of Tibet-related issues, and honour its commitment to recognise Tibet as part of China and to oppose ‘Tibet independence’,” he added.
The US aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, is scheduled to visit Hong Kong next week. It remains to be seen if Beijing will refuse permission for the visit, something it has done with similar defense visits in the past.
During the meeting, Obama is expected to discuss the failure of a recent meeting between Dalai Lama’s envoys and Chinese officials on the issue of Tibetan autonomy. Washington announced the date a day after the US envoy in Beijing publicly criticized China for sending a dissident writer to jail for 11 years.
The Obama administration has in recent weeks tried to disprove assumptions by several pundits that it would try to be extra nice with Chinese leadership in order to get their support for his economic recovery package. Beijing is the biggest holder of US treasury bills and is capable of buying a lot more.
Washington recently caused red faces in Beijing by announcing its intention to sell $6.4 billion worth of arms including anti-missile missiles to Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and often threatened to hit the island with missiles in order to acquire it.
The controversy over the operations of Google, which complained of censorship in China, has also soured the relationship between the two countries.
While announcing the date of the meeting, US spokesman Robert Gibbs used phrases that are calculated to rattle the Chinese leadership. “He’s a spokesman for Tibetan rights. The president looks forward to an engaging and constructive meeting,” Gibbs said.
The Chinese foreign ministry recently said that the Dalai Lama does not represent the Tibetan people and his sole purpose is to mislead the people in Tibet.
China to Obama: Cancel Dalai Lama meeting
BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign ministry has urged the United States to immediately cancel plans for President Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama next week, warning the move could further hurt ties.
Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu issued the remarks Friday, hours after Washington announced Obama would meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader at the White House on Feb. 18.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence and believes that shunning the exiled Tibetan monk should be a basic principle of international relations.
Ma says the US should cancel the meeting “so as not to cause further damage to Sino-US relations.”
Obama has been under intense pressure to meet with the Dalai Lama after putting off a meeting in October.
China decries Barack Obama’s plan to meet Dalai Lama
updated at 06:53 GMT, Friday, 12 February 2010
China has again urged the United States to cancel a planned meeting between President Barack Obama and the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The two men will meet at the White House on 18 February, US spokesman Robert Gibbs has confirmed.
He said the Sino-US relationship was mature enough to disagree while finding common ground on international issues.
China had already said that such a meeting would seriously undermine relations with the United States.
Mr Gibbs said the Dalai Lama was “an internationally respected religious leader”.
“He’s a spokesman for Tibetan rights. The president looks forward to an engaging and constructive meeting,” he said.
“We think we have a mature enough relationship with the Chinese that we can agree on mutual interests, but also have a mature enough relationship that we know the two countries are not always going to agree on everything.”
China reacted quickly to the announcement through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.
“We firmly oppose the Dalai Lama visiting the United States and US leaders having contact with him,” Mr Ma said.
“We urge the US side to fully understand the high sensitivity of Tibet-related issues, and honour its commitment to recognise Tibet as part of China and to oppose ‘Tibet independence’,” he added.
“China urges the US… to immediately call off the wrong decision of arranging for President Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama… to avoid any more damage to Sino-US relations.”
China, which took over Tibet in 1950, considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and tries to isolate the spiritual leader by asking foreign leaders not to see him.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and has since been living in India.
Tense ties
The US has already moved carefully on the issue. Mr Obama avoided meeting the Dalai Lama in Washington last year ahead of his own first state visit to Beijing.
But on that trip he told his Chinese hosts his meeting with the revered Tibetan Buddhist leader would go ahead.
The meeting this month will take place in the White House Map Room, not the symbolic surroundings of the Oval Office, where Mr Obama normally meets foreign leaders and VIP guests.
President George W Bush also met the Dalai Lama at the White House.
The planned meeting comes soon after China expressed strong displeasure at the sale of $6.4bn (£4bn) worth of US weapons to Taiwan.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a Chinese territory to be reunified by force if necessary.
Another source of tension is internet censorship, following the announcement by the search giant Google that it might pull out of China following what it said had been a “sophisticated and targeted” cyber attack from inside the country.
However, the US wants Chinese support in the United Nations regarding sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programmes.
Mr Obama has also given signs of getting tougher on the long-standing dispute over China’s currency, which some traders feel is kept artificially strong.
The US aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, is scheduled to visit the former British territory of Hong Kong next week. China has refused permission to similar visits in the past but appears to be allowing this one to go ahead so far.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the visit was an important part of the US “outreach and engagement with the Chinese people” as well as a a key element of the military-to-military relationship.
