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US rejects Beijing¡¦s demand to cancel
Dalai Lama meeting
AFP, WASHINGTON
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010, Page 1
The US has escalated a mounting row on multiple fronts with China, refusing
Beijing¡¦s demand to cancel US President Barack Obama¡¦s meeting this week with
the Dalai Lama.
The deepening public spat over Tibet, a row over US arms sales to Taiwan,
China¡¦s dispute with Google and trade and currency disagreements, come at a key
diplomatic moment, as Obama seeks Chinese help to toughen sanctions on Iran.
The White House announced on Thursday that Obama would hold his long-awaited
meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House this week, drawing an angry
reaction from China and a demand for the invitation to be rescinded.
But Obama¡¦s spokesman Robert Gibbs signaled the White House would defy China¡¦s
warning that the encounter would damage already strained Sino-US relations.
¡§I do not know if their specific reaction was to cancel it,¡¨ Gibbs said. ¡§If
that was their specific reaction, the meeting will take place as planned next
Thursday.¡¨
Obama avoided the Dalai Lama when he was in Washington last year, in an apparent
bid to set relations with Beijing off on a good foot in the first year of a
presidency which included several meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao
(JÀAÀÜ).
Obama, however, warned Chinese leaders on an inaugural visit to Beijing in
November that he intended to meet the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (°¨´Â¦°) said earlier that Beijing
firmly opposed ¡§the Dalai Lama visiting the US and US leaders having contact
with him.¡¨
¡§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,¡¨ Ma said.
Obama¡¦s meeting with the Dalai Lama will take place in the White House Map Room
and not, in an apparent effort to mollify China, in the Oval Office, where US
presidents normally meet VIPs and visiting government chiefs.
The International Campaign for Tibet said on Friday it welcomed the meeting.
¡§We believe that President Obama understands what is at stake for the Tibetan
people and has a role to play as the leader of a nation founded on universal
principles of freedom and justice,¡¨ said Mary Beth Markey, the campaign¡¦s vice
president for international advocacy.
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