President met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader over China's warning
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has ended his more than hourlong meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House, and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said afterward "I am very happy."
The Dalai Lama told reporters on the White House driveway Thursday that he spoke to Obama about the promotion of human values, religious harmony and the concerns of the Tibetan people.
Obama was "supportive," he said.
Obama's largely symbolic meeting with the Dalai Lama was kept low-key in deference to Chinese anger. Beijing considers the Buddhist monk a separatist, and Obama wanted to void angering China at a time when its cooperation was needed on nuclear standoffs, climate change and other priorities.
Seeking to avoid alienating Beijing, Obama had delayed meeting the Dalai Lama until after first seeing Chinese leaders during his Asia trip last year.
During Thursday's visit, Obama -- like his White House predecessors -- denied the Dalai Lama the symbolism of meeting in the Oval Office. Instead they met in the lesser-known Map Room. Such distinctions signaled to Beijing that the Tibetan monk was not being received as a political leader.
But honoring the Dalai Lama could still help Obama burnish his administration's credentials among human rights activists, who accuse him of focusing on global issues with Beijing at the expense of promoting Chinese democratic reforms.
Ahead of the talks, Tibetans living near the Dalai Lama's birthplace in northwest China welcomed the White House meeting with a defiant show of fireworks. The midnight display along a valley dotted with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries was a reminder that the Dalai Lama remains a potent figure in his homeland.
REUTERS-updated
from msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35456043/ns/politics-white_house/
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