US No. 2 diplomat meets with Dalai Lama for talks

The Associated Press
Published: October 19, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Dalai Lama met with a senior U.S. diplomat, continuing a swing through Washington that China says has undermined its relations with the United States.

Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Friday to discuss the situation in Tibet and the Dalai Lama's work on behalf of his followers, said Rob McInturff, a State Department spokesman.

China is furious over the U.S. Congress' award to the Dalai Lama of its highest civilian honor, personally bestowed by President George W. Bush in a ceremony Wednesday.

China is demanding Washington stop supporting the Buddhist monk and that it act to repair ties.

The Dalai Lama is considered a figure of moral authority in much of the world, but China reviles him as a Tibetan separatist. The 72-year-old monk and Nobel Peace Prize laureate has reiterated in Washington that he wants "real autonomy" for Tibet, not independence.