PTI, Beijing :
China summoned US charge d’affaires here and lodged a strong diplomatic protest after President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House despite warnings from Beijing that the meeting would damage ties.
Vice-foreign minister Zhang Yesui summoned Daniel Kritenbrink, charge d’affaires of the US embassy in China, on Friday night to lodge solemn representations for Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama disregarding China’s strong opposition, the Foreign Ministry here said in a statement.
Zhang said such a wrong move gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs, seriously violated the US commitment of not supporting the “Tibet independence”, gravely violated basic norms governing the international relations and seriously undermined the China-US relations.
“China expresses strong indignation and firm opposition,” Zhang said.
The meeting is a serious violation of the basic norms of international relations and caused serious damage to the US-China relations, the statement was quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.
Obama offered “strong support” for Tibetans’ human rights as he met the Dalai Lama.
Obama, during the meeting, extended support to the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach of neither assimilation nor independence for Tibetans in China.
The US announcement of Obama’s third meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader drew a sharp reaction from China, which has long opposed foreign dignitaries meeting the Dalai Lama who fled to India in 1959.
Earlier, China lodged diplomatic protest soon after the White House announced the meeting and later the foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying sought its cancellation saying it would seriously impair bilateral ties.
