Obama meets Dalai Lama in White House snub to China

President Barack Obama held talks with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama at the White House on Saturday in a direct snub to China's strident warnings against any such meeting.

Hours before the talks in the White House Map Room on Saturday, Beijing said the meeting "grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, hurt the feelings of Chinese people and damaged the Sino-American relations".

But Obama ignored the complaints and met the saffron-robed monk for a second time in as many years to express his support for human rights in Tibet.

Obama met the fellow Nobel Prize winner for about 45 minutes and lauded his non-violent approach to the question of greater autonomy for the Himalayan region which Chinese troops annexed in 1950.

A White House statement said the Dalai Lama reassured Obama that he was not seeking independence for Tibet and reiterated his hope that "dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government can soon resume."

Beijing accuses the monk of being a dangerous "splittist" bent on tearing China apart, a charge the Dalai Lama rejects.

In what The Guardian newspaper said was a nod to the criticism from Beijing, Obama underscored the "importance he attaches to building a U.S.-China cooperative partnership," the White House said.

"The president reiterated his strong support for the preservation of the unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions of Tibet and the Tibetan people throughout the world," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement, according to Reuters.

"He underscored the importance of the protection of human rights of Tibetans in China. The president commended the Dalai Lama's commitment to nonviolence and dialogue with China."

Obama also said he encouraged "direct dialogue to resolve long-standing differences, and that a dialogue that produces results would be positive for China and Tibetans."

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui "urgently summoned" U.S. Charge d'Affaires Robert S. Wang to the ministry in Beijing to register the government's anger at the meeting.

Xinhua quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu as saying the White House must "seriously consider China's stance, immediately adopt measures to wipe out the baneful impact, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and cease to connive and support anti-China separatist forces that seek 'Tibet independence'."

As reported earlier by the Global Post, Beijing issued a similar statement when the Dalai Lama met senior U.S. lawmakers in Washington earlier this month.

The Buddhist leader has been in the U.S. for some time to attend a religious ceremony.

Obama's meeting came amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, the United States' biggest creditor, over a possible U.S. debt default.

It also comes as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to attend an Asian security dialogue, the ASEAN Regional Forum, alongside Chinese representatives in Indonesia on Friday.