No change in policy towards Tibet: US

The Obama administration has made it clear that there has been no change in US policy towards Tibet even as it decides to hold talks with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after Prez Obama`s visit to China scheduled in Nov.

Washington: The Obama administration has made it clear that there has been no change in US policy towards Tibet even as it decides to hold talks with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama after President Barack Obama`s visit to China scheduled in November.

This is for the first time since 1919 that the Dalai Lama would not be visiting the White House during his stay in Washington. The Dalai Lama arrived in Washington on Monday on a five-day visit, during which he would be meeting key Congressional leaders.
"The US government thinks that he is an internationally revered religious and cultural figure. He`s a Nobel prize laureate. The President has decided that he will meet with the
Dalai Lama at a mutually agreeable time. I think that there was an announcement that it would be after his trip to China," the State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.

Arguing that nothing much should be read into this, Kelly said: "I wouldn`t necessarily read anything into the decision beyond what it is, is that we`ve decided to meet with the
Dalai Lama because of our respect for his position, the fact that he is a revered spiritual leader."

Noting that the US position regarding China is clear, he said the Obama administration wants to engage China.

"We think China is an important global player. We also don`t try and downplay some of the concerns that we have about China and some of our disagreements with China in the areas of human rights, religious freedom, and freedom of expression." Kelly said the President`s decision to meet the Dalai Lama and the path that of US relationship with China are two separate issues.

The Dalai Lama`s Special Envoy Lodi Gyalsten Gyari in a statement yesterday insisted that no meeting with Obama was scheduled this time and it was decided long ago that both the leaders would be meeting after the China trip of the US President next month.

Meanwhile, a Republican Congresswoman has also expressed disappointment that the President would not be meet the Tibetan Spiritual Leader during his current visit.
"I am greatly disappointed to learn that, for the first time since 1991, a sitting US President will not be meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama during His Holiness` visit to Washington," said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Republican leader charged that there has been a change in the US policy towards China.

"Last week, the Empire State building was bathed in red and yellow to `celebrate` the 60th anniversary of the founding of Communist China," she said. "This week the US is kowtowing to Beijing again by refusing to meet with His Holiness. This is a policy turned upside-down".

Bureau Report

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