Bush Strongly Supports the Dalai Lama

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, ``The president commended the Dalai Lama`s commitment to nonviolence and declared his strong support for the Dalai Lama`s tireless efforts to initiate a dialogue with the Chinese government.``

The announcement stated that the president will try to promote dialogues and expressed a wished for a friendly response from China.

Paula Dobriansky, the State Department`s special coordinator for Tibet and undersecreatary for global affairs, said, ``The meeting that took place with the Dalai Lama demonstrate the administration`s firm commitment to support the preservation of Tibet`s unique culture and the linguistic identity and also underscore our strong support for the human rights of all Tibetans.``

Aides from the White House emphasized that the meeting, which had been strongly opposed by China, was held at the presidential residence but not in the oval office and that it was only `a private meeting` with a celebrity, not a politician.

However, China strongly criticized the US, saying that the meeting with the Dalai Lama was intervention in the domestic affairs of other country.

The Chinese spokesperson remarked at the regular briefing, ``Tibet is a part of Chinese territory and the problem of Tibet is a domestic matter. No country can not intervene [in the Tibetan matters.]``

The spokesperson also protested that, even though the US had reiterated that it does not support for the independence of Tibet, the US president had met with a person who had requested for the Tibetan independence.

Shin Chi-Young higgledy@donga.com