China criticizes Bush for meeting Dalai Lama
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-11-10 21:45

China criticized U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday for meeting the Dalai Lama and dismissed Washington's annual report on religious freedom as groundless, but said the issues would not overshadow Bush's visit to Beijing.

U.S. President George W. Bush meets with the Dalai Lama (L) at the White House in Washington, November 9, 2005. [Reuters]

Bush met the Dalai Lama, at the White House on Wednesday, a day after his administration named China a serious violator of religious freedom in a report to Congress.

"The Dalai Lama is not a simple or a pure religious figure. He is a political exile. We oppose the meeting of him with other leaders," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news briefing.

"Other leaders should not provide a platform for him to separate the country," he said.

Liu said the State Department's annual report on religious freedom, which said China restricts religious practice to state-sanctioned groups, made groundless accusations.

"We ask the U.S. to stop interfering in China's religious affairs under the guise of the religion issue," Liu said.

"All people in all regions in China enjoy religious freedom in accordance with the law."

The religious freedom report and the wrangling over the Dalai Lama raise the thorny issue of human rights record ahead of Bush's November 19-21 trip, but Liu said it would not overshadow the visit.

"The importance will not be diminished by a single incident," he said. "The visit will achieve its planned goals."