Bush meeting with Dalai Lama defended

WASHINGTON — The White House defended President Bush’s meeting Tuesday with the Dalai Lama in the president’s residence and dismissed Beijing’s warning that the talks and the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to him today would damage relations between the U.S. and China.

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet’s Buddhists is hailed in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, but Beijing reviles the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and claims he seeks to destroy China’s sovereignty by pushing for independence for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama said that during their meeting, he explained to Bush what was happening in Tibet and said he thanked the president for “showing his concern about Tibet.”

“We know each other, and we have developed, I think, a very close friendship — something like a reunion of one family,” the Dalai Lama said.

The Dalai Lama says he wants “real autonomy,” not independence, for Tibet. But China demonizes the spiritual leader and believes the United States is honoring a separatist.

“We solemnly demand that the U.S. cancel the extremely wrong arrangements,” said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of today’s presentation of the honor to the Dalai Lama. “It seriously violates the norm of international relations and seriously wounded the feelings of the Chinese people and interfered with China’s internal affairs.”

“We in no way want to stir the pot and make China feel that we are poking a stick in their eye for a country that we have a lot of relationships with on a variety of issues,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

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