China Outraged’ With U.S Human Rights Top Official Meeting Exiled Dalai Lama

China has strongly objected to the meeting of United States top official on human rights Uzra Zeya with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in New Delhi, India. Taking offense at Sunday’s meeting, Beijing has once again rebuked Washington for meddling in China’s internal affairs. 

Wang Xiaojian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, tweeted that the U.S. should take concrete actions to honor its commitment of acknowledging Xizang (Tibet) as part of China, and stop meddling in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of Xizang-related issues, and offer no support to the anti-China separatist activities of the Dalai clique. 

The spokesperson reiterated that Xizang affairs are purely internal affairs of China and no external forces have the right to interfere. Xiaojian highlighted that China opposes any form of contact between foreign officials and the ‘Tibetan independence forces’. 

Zeya, the U.S. Under Secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights who is also the U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, met the Dalai Lama and officials of the Dharamshala-based CTA on Sunday. She is on a week-long visit to India and Bangladesh. 

The Dalai Lama, who has been in exile since 1959, told journalists that Tibet was part of China, and the Chinese government had “officially and unofficially”, reached out to him for talks. He said they are not seeking independence, and decided that they remain a part of People’s Republic of China. The spiritual leader believes China also realizes that Tibetan people are very strong. “So you see, in order to deal with the Tibetan problem, they want to have contact with me, and I am also ready. Now China is changing, also the Chinese government, officially or unofficially requested contact with me.” 

However, Beijing has held no formal talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010. Officials say talks about the Dalai Lama’s future, including his request to revisit his homeland, is not the future of Tibet. Details of Sunday’s meeting between the U.S. Special Envoy and the Dalai Lama have not been disclosed.

The China-Tibet conflict is seen as an ethnic and religious conflict. Experts say the Chinese government has a history of persecuting religious movements, especially those which draw large numbers of followers and have the potential to transform into political movements and threaten the regime’s hold on power.