China Files Strong Protests After The Dalai Lama Meets US Senior Officials In New York

Dalai Lama. (Wikimedia Commons/Artemas Liu)

JAKARTA - China has firmly opposed any country that allows the Dalai Lama to come to visit the country for any reason, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

That was after a senior US State Department official and the White House met with the Dalai Lama in New York on Wednesday.

Senior officials from the US State Department and the White House met with the Dalai Lama in New York on Wednesday and "reaffirmed the US's commitment to advancing the human rights of Tibetans," the State Department said.

The meeting with the 89-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader is expected to anger China, who considers it a dangerous separatist and opposes contact with him by any state official.

"China has filed a serious protest against the US", foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference.

"We do not allow the Dalai Lama to engage in political separatist activities in the US," he continued.

Earlier, a State Department statement said Uzra Zeya, deputy US foreign minister for human rights and special coordinator for the Tibet issue, traveled to New York to meet with the Dalai Lama, accompanied by White House director for human rights Kelly Razzouk.

It said Zeya "conveyed, on behalf of President Biden, the best hope for His Majesty's health and reaffirmed the US's commitment to advancing the human rights of Tibetans and supporting efforts to preserve their unique historical, language, culture and religious heritage."

Zeya discussed US efforts to address human rights abuses in Tibet and support for the resumption of dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama, the statement said.

The Dalai Lama, 89, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, traveled to New York in June for medical treatment on his knees, his first visit to the United States since 2017.

Last month, China expressed a strong rejection of US laws signed by President Joe Biden urging Beijing to resolve disputes over Tibet's demands for greater autonomy, and pledged to "firmly defend" its interests.