By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: Refusing to bow to demands from Beijing, the White House has reiterated that President Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama next Thursday as scheduled.
“I do not know if their specific reaction was to cancel it,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday when asked about China’s warning that the encounter would damage already strained Sino-US relations.
“If that was their specific reaction, the meeting will take place as planned next Thursday.”
Gibbs had announced Thursday that Obama would hold his long-awaited meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader next week in the White House Map Room instead of the Oval Office.
US presidents normally meet VIPs and visiting government heads in the Oval office, but past presidents too have avoided meeting the Dalai Lama in the room.
The announcement drew an angry reaction from China and a demand for the invitation to be rescinded.
“I know that obviously we discussed the fact that this meeting would happen on our trip to Beijing. Before I announced it we talked to them and said we’re going to announce this meeting,” Gibbs said.
Asked if the president will discuss the shift to Tibetan independence with the Dalai Lama, he promised to have a readout of what they do talk about as a result of that meeting.
When pressed about the official US position on Tibetan independence, Gibbs again parried: “I will get that information to you after that meeting. Nice try, though.”
“Obviously the president will discuss with the Dalai Lama his belief that he and the Chinese continue to discuss the issues that they have relating to Tibet, and I assume we’ll have a readout after that,” he said.
Obama avoided meeting the Dalai Lama ahead of a visit to China last year, in an apparent bid to set relations with Beijing off on a good footing in the first year of a presidency which included several meetings with President Hu Jintao.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])