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Obama 'snubs' Dalai Lama meeting | |
(about 14 hours later) | |
US President Barack Obama has been accused of bowing to Chinese pressure by delaying a meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. | |
Mr Obama has said he will not meet the Dalai Lama, who is currently in the US, until after visiting China in November. | |
But human rights activists and some US lawmakers accused Mr Obama of putting economic issues first - a move denied by the White House. | |
China, which took over Tibet in 1950, considers the Dalai Lama a separatist. | |
Beijing also demands that other nations do not meet the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising. | |
'Wrong message' | |
Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican lawmaker on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the White House was "kowtowing" to Beijing by delaying a meeting with the spiritual leader. | |
The Dalai Lama has always been supportive of American engagement with China Dalai Lama's envoy Lodi Gyari | |
Her words were echoed by Leonard Leo, chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, who described the Obama administration's decision as "a strategic snub". | |
He said it sent "the wrong message to Beijing and to China's religious communities and rights activists". | |
Both Washington and the Dalai Lama's envoy played down the significance of delaying the meeting. | |
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the Dalai Lama would meet the new US co-ordinator for Tibet, Maria Otero, during his current trip. | |
And Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's envoy, said the spiritual leader took "a broader and long-term perspective" that it was better to meet Mr Obama after his talks in China. | |
"The Dalai Lama has always been supportive of American engagement with China," Lodi Gyari said in a statement. | |
"Our hope is that the co-operative US-Chinese relationship that President Obama's administration seeks will create conditions that support the resolution of the legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people." | |
The Dalai Lama, who is 74, arrived in Washington on Monday. He will spend a week in the US capital after travelling around North America for a fortnight giving spiritual teachings. | |
The spiritual leader has met all serving US presidents since George Bush in 1991. | The spiritual leader has met all serving US presidents since George Bush in 1991. |