The Philippine Online Chronicles

United States president Barack Obama pursued his meeting with the Dalai Lama despite warnings that the acquaintance might anger China and further strain Sino-U.S. relations.

The low-key affair between Obama and the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader took place at the White House last Feb. 18 (US time).

In a statement, Obama commended the Dalai Lama's commitment to non-violence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government.  He encouraged China and the Dalai Lama's envoys to keep up efforts to resolve their differences through negotiations, despite recent talks having yielded little progress.

The Dalai Lama had expressed to Obama his admiration for the United States as a "champion of democracy, freedom, human values", Aljazeera reported. The Dalai Lama told White House reporters that he was ‘very happy’ with the visit.

Analysts said the meeting is likely to affect US’ ties with Beijing especially. Within hours of meet, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement saying the meeting had "seriously harmed" U.S.-Sino relations. "We believe the actions of the U.S. side have seriously interfered in Chinese internal affairs, seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and seriously undermined China-U.S. relations," he said in a VOA news.

According to Bloomberg, US-China relations have suffered recently as the U.S. announced a planned USD6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, Google Inc. threatened to exit China on the grounds that user e-mail accounts were being hacked and China taxed American chicken imports after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese tires.

The Dalai Lama's visit could also complicate Obama's efforts to secure China's help on key issues such as imposing tougher sanctions on Iran, resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff and forging a new global accord on climate change.

But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed concerns over US-China relations insisting that the two nations have a ‘mature relationship’ capable of withstanding disagreements.

Although admired by millions around the world as a man of peace, the Dalai Lama is accused by Beijing of being a dangerous separatist who foments unrest in Tibet. The Dalai Lama fled his homeland to India in 1959 during a failed uprising eight years after Chinese troops took over Tibet.

Obama had delayed meeting the Dalai Lama until after first seeing Chinese leaders during his Asia trip last year.