The International Herald Tribune reports that China is pressing the US not to honor the Dalai Lama (with a Congressional award).


BEIJING: Chinese officials warned the United States not to honor the Dalai Lama, saying a planned award ceremony for the Tibetan spiritual leader would have "an extremely serious impact" on relations between the two countries.

Speaking at a Foreign Ministry briefing and on the sidelines of the Communist Party's 17th National Congress, the officials condemned the Dalai Lama as a resolute separatist and said foreign leaders must stop encouraging his "splittist" mission.

"Such a person who basely splits his motherland and doesn't even love his motherland has been welcomed by some countries and has even been receiving this or that award," the Tibetan Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, said during the congress.

"We are furious," Zhang said. "If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world."

The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since the Chinese Army crushed an uprising in his homeland in 1959, is revered as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. The Nobel peace laureate is scheduled to receive the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday after President George W. Bush meets with him at the White House on Tuesday.

China has pressed the United States to cancel the award event for months. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said Tuesday that Beijing was "strongly dissatisfied" and warned of an "extremely serious impact" if the events are held as scheduled. But he did not say what steps China planned to take.

This week, Beijing pulled out of a meeting at which leading world powers are to discuss the Iranian nuclear program. Chinese officials cited "technical reasons" for not participating, but they left the clear impression that they might downgrade support for international efforts to stop the Iranian nuclear program if foreign powers interfered in China's internal affairs.

China also recently cancelled its annual human rights dialogue with Germany to protest Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting last month with the Dalai Lama. But Beijing often uses strong language when warning other countries about interfering in its internal affairs without taking strong action. Giving an award to the Dalai Lama is highly unlikely to seriously disrupt relations with the United States, which has often sought to protect Chinese dissidents and has maintained close ties to Taiwan, which China's considers a renegade province.

Both Washington and Beijing say relations between the two countries have been warm, especially after they worked together to bring about an agreement to end North Korea's nuclear program.

In recent months, China has stepped up its attacks on the Dalai Lama even though Chinese officials and envoys from the Tibetan leader have engaged in a on-and-off dialogue over terms of reconciliation.