International   

China summons U.S. Ambassador to protest award to Dalai Lama

BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Thursday summoned U.S. Ambassador to China, Clark Randt, to strongly protest on behalf of the Chinese government against the award of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama and his meeting with President George W. Bush, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

The move of the U.S. is a wanton interference in China’s internal affairs, has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and gravely undermined its relations with China, Mr. Liu told a press briefing on Thursday.

Tibet is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, Mr. Liu said, adding that the Tibet issue is purely a Chinese internal affair. China resolutely opposes any country or any people to making use of the Dalai Lama issue to interfere in its domestic affairs, he said.

“The words and deeds of the Dalai Lama in the past decades show he is a political refugee engaged in secessionist activities under the camouflage of religion,” Mr. Liu said. The award of the Congressional Gold Medal and the meeting of U.S. leaders with him “have severely trampled on the norms of international relations and violated the U.S. government’s reiterated position on the Tibet issue,” Mr. Liu said.

“We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition toward this,” he said. China urged the U.S. to take effective measures immediately to remove the terrible impact of its erroneous act.

He added that the U.S. should not indulge and support Tibetan secessionist activities. — Xinhua

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Warm send-off to Benazir from Dubai
Sarkozy, wife separate
Deborah Kerr passes away
PPP is a powerful force, says Benazir
Transport strike brings France to a halt
“38 Tigers killed in battles”
U.N. food aid chief in Somalia arrested
Radical overhaul in the BBC
Cockatoo on song on YouTube
China summons U.S. Ambassador to protest award to Dalai Lama

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu