China warns world leaders against meeting Dalai Lama
BEIJING: China on Saturday warned world leaders and politicians against meeting the Dalai La ma, saying it would be perceived asa “major offence” as the spiritual leader is a “separatist” trying to carve out an independent Tibet.
Foreign officials also can’t get away by saying they were meeting the exiled Tibetan leader in a personal capacity as they still represent their governments, Zhang Yijiong, who heads the Communist Party’s Tibet working group, told reporters on the sidelines of the party congress here.
“Any country, or any organisation of anyone, accepting to meet with the Dalai Lama, in our view, is a major offence to the sentiment of the Chinese people ,” said Z hang, who is also a ne xe cu- tive vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party.
“After fleeing China in 1959, he established a so-called government-in-exile, whose goal and core agenda is the independence of Tibet and to separate (from) China...” he said.
Though Z hang did not mention any particular country, China has repeatedly protested against the Dalai Lama’s contacts with top Indian leaders such as former president Pranab Mukherjee. Beijing has also pro tested against the Tibetan leader’s visit to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is claimed by China.
Zhang, who led failed talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives, spoke in Chinese at a news conference on the margin soft he national congress of the Communist Party that is expected to give President Xi Jinping a second term.
He said any meeting between the Tibetan leader and foreign officials “contravenes” their government’ s commitment tor eco gn is ethe Chinese government as the sole legitimate body representing the country.
“The fact is that there is not a single legitimate government in the world that recognises the so-called Tibet government-in-exile,” he said.