BEIJING, Feb. 3 Kyodo
China on Wednesday again cautioned U.S. President Barack Obama not to meet with the Dalai Lama, after the White House reconfirmed Obama's intention to meet him as ''an internationally respected religious and cultural leader.''
''China resolutely opposes the visit by the Dalai Lama to the United States, and resolutely opposes the U.S. leader having contact hair extensions wholesale with the Dalai Lama in any name or any form,'' the Foreign Ministry said on its website amid reports the Dalai Lama is expected to visit Washington as early as mid-February.
China views Tibet's spiritual leader, who fled his homeland in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and now advocates ''genuine autonomy'' for Tibetans within China, to be a separatist who has never given up his quest for Tibetan independence.
Zhu Weiqun, executive deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, warned Tuesday of serious damage to Sino-U.S. relationship if Obama meets with the Dalai Lama, saying China would take ''corresponding action.''
But despite that warning, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters Tuesday that Obama plans to go ahead with the planned meeting.
Clip in hair extensions''The president told China's leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama, and he intends to do so,'' he said. ''The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious and cultural leader, and the president will meet with him in that capacity.''
Burton added that while the United States considers Tibet to be a part of China, ''We have human rights concerns about the treatment of Tibetans. We urge the government of
embroidered patches China to protect the unique cultural and religious traditions of Tibet.''
In 2008, China canceled a major summit with the European Union to protest French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama, and bilateral relations deteriorated.
Ties between China and the United States are already strained over the U.S. government's planned $6.4 billion arms package for Taiwan, over which Beijing has said it will retaliate by sanctioning companies involved and curtailing bilateral military contacts.
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