US:President George Bush yesterday welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House, ignoring Chinese warnings that the meeting could damage relations between Washington and Beijing. The meeting took place, however, in the president's residential quarters rather than the Oval Office and, in deference to Chinese sensitivities, the White House excluded the media and did not release a photograph.
"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. And this might be one thing that we can do. But I don't believe that that's going to soothe the concerns in China," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
Mr Bush will be photographed with the Dalai Lama today when the president attends the award of the congressional gold medal to the Buddhist spiritual leader. China has withdrawn from an international strategy session on Iran due to take place in Berlin today, citing "technical reasons".
"For the US Congress to take this action and the US leader to meet with the Dalai Lama is a severe violation of the norms of international relations. We express our extreme dissatisfaction and strong opposition. We urge the US side to cancel these activities," said Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing.
China argues that the Dalai Lama is threatening to destroy Chinese sovereignty by seeking independence for Tibet, although he says he is only seeking "real autonomy".
Mr Bush is the fourth US president to meet the Dalai Lama but he will today become the first to appear publicly with him.
As leader of Tibet's Buddhists, the Dalai Lama is a symbol of their campaign for the right to manage their religious and cultural affairs, education and language without Chinese interference. He has lived in exile since Beijing sent troops into Tibet to put down an uprising in 1959, eight years after it first annexed Tibet.
China reacted angrily to German chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama last month in Berlin, pulling out of a Germany-China symposium in Munich and cancelling an event scheduled for December.