China warns US after politicians meet Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama makes his remarks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2011, as he is welcomed by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. -- PHOTO: AP

BEIJING - CHINA warned the United States not to interfere in its internal affairs after senior US politicians met in Washington exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a man Beijing reviles as a separatist.

'The affairs of Tibet are a purely Chinese internal matter, and China resolutely opposes any country or any person interfering in China's internal affairs on the issue of Tibet,'Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

'The words and actions of the Dalai Lama over the last decades shows that he is not purely a religious figure, but is a political exile who has long engaged in activities to split China under the pretext of religion,' Mr Hong added.

'China urges relevant US lawmakers to stop conniving in and supporting the Dalai clique's anti-Chinese splitist activities,' he said, in a short statement carried on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

The US State Department said the Dalai Lama met on Wednesday with Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero, but that it remained to be decided whether he would have any meetings at higher levels.

On Thursday, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and other senior US lawmakers also met the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Prize laureate. -- AP