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The Dalai Lama, visiting the White House today, offered President Obama condolences for the Orlando shootings.

The president and the Tibetan spiritual leader also talked about issues facing Tibetans living within China. The White House said in a statement:

The White House also said that the president "reiterated the longstanding U.S. position that Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China, and the United States does not support Tibetan independence." The meeting, significantly, took place in the White House Map Room, not the Oval Office where the president meets with foreign heads of state.


Still, despite the president's efforts over the years to reassure China on this issue, Chinese officials expressed consternation over the meeting. During a press conference earlier in the day, 

China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said

After a failed uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India from Tibet. Today, the religious leader says he supports greater autonomy for Tibet but not outright independence from China. The White House says the president expressed support for this "middle way" approach to Tibet.


The meeting comes amid somewhat strained relations between the world's two largest economies. U.S. officials have called on China to halt its 

controversial island-building and land-reclamation projects in the South China Sea

. There have also been repeated instances where 

hackers thought to be linked to the Chinese government

 have gained access to the computer systems of private U.S. companies and the U.S. government. For its part, China has objected to, among other things, the recent decision by the U.S. to authorize arms sales to China's neighbor Vietnam.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Politics and Government News

Religion and Faith

Chris Arnold

Author

The spiritual leader, visiting the White House, offered condolences for the shootings in Orlando. China, as usual, condemned the meeting, saying it encourages Tibetan separatists.

Dalai Lama meets with President Obama; China objects

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