CHINA: Beijing urges the United States to scrap plans for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama

Record ID: 1376985

  • Title: CHINA: Beijing urges the United States to scrap plans for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama
  • Date: 13th February 2010
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (FILE - JANUARY 2010) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING IN FRONT OF GOOGLE BUILDING GOOGLE LOGO ON BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2010 22:56
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA30X0AGHCFYV4J11OCISI398B5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: China called on the United States on Friday (February 12) to scrap plans for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama next week, the latest source of friction in already strained Sino-U.S. relations.
    A news presenter on state-run China Central Television (CCTV) read out a statement made by the Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu condemning the meeting.
    "China urges the U.S. to understand clearly the sensitivity of the Tibet issue, to stand by their acceptance that Tibet is part of China and their pledge to oppose Tibetan independence, and cancel Obama's wrong decision to meet with the Dalai Lama, and not to provide any space or convenience for him to conduct anti-China separatist activities. They shouldn't do anything to destroy the stability of Tibet or interfere with China's internal affairs to avoid causing further damage to the China - U.S relationship," the news presenter said.
    The White House has announced that Obama will meet the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader on Feb. 18, despite China's repeated warnings that such talks would hurt ties.
    But China can do little to halt the meeting and some analysts put Beijing's ire down to sabre rattling, said Jospeh Cheng, professor of politics at Hong Kong's City University.
    "So it is kind of a routine warning so as to generate a deterrence effect. But I think that Chinese understand that they can't do much. And basically the authorities also understand that neither the Obama administration nor the Dalai Lama will issue any very provocative statements in the meeting," he said.
    Previous U.S. presidents, including Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, have met the Dalai Lama, drawing angry words from Beijing but no substantive reprisals.
    Tensions between Beijing and Washington have risen in recent months on a range of issues from their trade imbalance to the U.S. plan to sell $6.4 billion of weapons to Taiwan.
    The U.S., for its part, may wish to take a firmer line with an increasingly confident China, Cheng said.
    "The Obama administration is under considerable domestic pressure because of the lingering economic difficulties, the rising unemployment rate, the electoral setback in Massachusetts and so on. It has to be seen to be taking a strong position vis-����-vis China. It does not want to be seen as making a lot of concessions to China. And so the various bilateral and multilateral issues in the relationship have re-emerged as frictions, as problems," he said.
    The White House has made it clear that the U.S. will shrug off China's opposition over the Dalai Lama meeting.
    Nonetheless, mindful of Chinese sensibilities, a meeting had been held off until after the president had met the Chinese leaders last November.
    At Beijing's Lama Temple, the largest site of Tibetan Buddhism in the capital, Chinese burnt incense and prayed to the Buddha on Friday ahead of the upcoming Chinese and Tibetan New Years.
    Beijing resident Mr. Mao said he supported Beijing's opposition to Obama's meeting with a man it regards as a dangerous separatist.
    "Tibet is part of China and it's been that way for a long time. If they continuously and meaninglessly sabotage this, they will end up with nothing good. They will be manipulated by others, such as the American government or Western countries that have been hostile towards us," Mao said.
    Another resident, Xu Dancheng, said the meeting would have little impact in the long run.
    "Who cares? They can do as they like. We must act like a tolerant country and let others do as they wish. They can meet whoever, as long as there is no actual progress or agreement. We will resist with actions, we need something concrete, for example, protesting or simply developing our industries. Once the economy is better, we will be afraid of nothing," he said.
    China has grown increasingly vocal in opposition to the Dalai Lama's visits, branding his trip to self-ruled Taiwan, an island China treats as its own, as a "negative influence" on relations.
    The Dalai Lama has said he wants a high level of genuine autonomy for his homeland, which he fled in 1959. China says his demands amount to calling for outright independence.
    Beijing blames the spiritual leader for violent unrest that broke out across Tibetan capital of Lhasa and other Tibetan areas in March 2008 ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
    China recently hosted talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama but they achieved little.
    Washington has said it accepts Tibet is a part of China but wants Beijing to sit down with the Dalai Lama to address differences over the region's future.
    The conflict over the Dalai Lama meeting is one in a number of issues stoking tensions between the world's largest and third largest economies in recent months.
    Following the U.S.'s announcement of arms sales to Taiwan, China vowed last week to impose unspecified sanctions against U.S. companies selling arms to the island and curtail military-to-military contacts.
    Just weeks earlier, U.S. firm Google threatened to pull out of the Asian giant over internet censorship concerns after a barrage of cyber attacks it said originated in China.
    Obama has also urged China to re-evaluate its yuan currency, which Washington sees as undervalued and promoting the huge trade imbalance between the two countries.
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