China urges US to cancel Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama, warns it could further hurt ties

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China urges US to cancel meeting with Dalai Lama

BEIJING — China urged the United States on Friday to immediately cancel plans for President Barack Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama next week, warning the move could further hurt ties.

The meeting is likely to enflame tensions between China and the United States, already strained over disputes over trade issues and U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu issued the remarks 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, which the Dalai Lama denies, and believes that shunning the exiled Tibetan monk should be a basic principle of international relations. Obama has been under intense pressure to meet with the Dalai Lama after putting off a meeting in October.

“We urge the U.S. side to fully understand the high sensitivity of Tibet-related issues, honor its commitment to recognizing Tibet as part of China and opposing ‘Tibet independence,’” Ma said.

The U.S. should cancel the meeting “so as not to cause further damage to Sino-U.S. relations,” Ma said in a statement. Ma did not specify what consequences would arise from such a meeting. Chinese President Hu Jintao may possibly visit Washington in April.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama looked forward to an “engaging and constructive dialogue” with the Dalai Lama.

Gibbs said the United States and China had a mature relationship that could withstand differences on some issues.

“We know that two countries on this planet are not always going to agree on everything and we’ll have those disagreements,” Gibbs said.

China-U.S. relations have been strained in recent weeks over several issues: Washington announcing a $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own; U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging Beijing to investigate hacking attacks that led to Google’s threat to pull out of China; and Obama vowing to get tough with China on a currency dispute.

At the same time, U.S. officials welcomed Beijing’s approval of a visit by the USS Nimitz carrier to Hong Kong.

“We think it’s important — an important part of our … not only outreach and engagement with the Chinese people but an important dimension of our military-to-military relationship,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Hong Kong media have reported that the visit could take place next week.

Tibet and Taiwan are China’s most sensitive issues. China has already threatened to punish U.S. companies involved in any arms sales to Taiwan and has suspended military exchanges with Washington.

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against China, leads a government-in-exile in India. Beijing often lodges protests against his travel abroad and meetings with heads of state.

Every U.S. president for the last two decades has met with the Dalai Lama, who enjoys widespread support in the United States, and those visits are considered powerful signs of the American commitment to human rights. Obama told China’s leaders last year that he would meet with the monk.