China urges US to take concrete actions for healthy bilateral ties

Beijing, Feb 19(ANI): China has urged the United States to take concrete actions for healthy development of bilateral ties after US President Barack Obama met the Tibetan religious leader, the Dalai Lama, at the White House on Thursday.

The meeting came amidst strong Chinese objections, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu reiterated that the US should have avoided the arrangement. The US act grossly violated the norms governing the international relations, and ran counter to the principles set forth in the three China-US joint communiques and the China-US joint statement," The China Daily quoted Zhaoxu, as saying in a statement.

He further said that it also went against the repeated commitments by the US government that the US recognizes Tibet as part of China and gives no support to "Tibet independence".

Zhaoxu added that the US should stop interfering in China's internal affairs to maintain healthy and steady growth of China-US relations.

Meanwhile, Obama expressed "strong support" for human rights and Tibet's unique linguistic, cultural and religious identity during the meeting.

"The President stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"The President commended the Dalai Lama's "Middle Way" approach, his commitment to non-violence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government. He stressed that he has consistently encouraged both sides to engage in direct dialogue to resolve differences and was pleased to hear about the recent resumption of talks."

"The President and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of a positive and cooperative relationship between the United States and China," Gibbs added. (ANI)