China strongly opposes the US side allowing the Dalai Lama to
visit the United States and its leaders' meeting with him, said
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan in Beijing
Wednesday.
Kong made the remark in reply to a reporter's question about the
Dalai Lama's visit to the United States from September 4 to 24, his
meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his possible
meeting with President George W. Bush.
China has lodged representations with the United States on the
Dalai Lama's US visit and its leaders' meeting with him, calling
for the US side to keep its promise that it acknowledges Tibet as
part of China and does not support the "independence of Tibet,"
Kong said.
He said the Dalai Lama is not purely a religious figure, but a
political figure in exile, who has engaged in China-separating and
national-unity-destroying activities for a long time.
The Chinese side urges the US side to stop using the Tibet issue
to interfere with China's internal affairs so as not to harm
China-US relations, the spokesman said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2003)