China urges US to stop interfering in Tibet-related matters

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States to stop interfering in matters related to Tibet during a telephone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry, following US President Barack Obama’s recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.

In Saturday’s call, Kerry assured the Chinese minister that the United States does not support Tibet’s independence and that its policy on this matter has not changed and will not change, the Chinese ministry said on its website.

The conversation took place after Obama received the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people for the fourth time since coming to office, despite ‘strong opposition’ from China just a few hours earlier.

The Chinese government objected to the meeting, which the White House said was of a personal nature, and said it would “jeopardize ChinaUS mutual trust and cooperation.”

China accuses the Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India since 1959, of being a leader of the Tibetan independence movement.

China claims Tibet has been an inseparable part of its territory for centuries, although Tibetansinexile maintain the region was independent for hundreds of years before it was occupied by communist troops and incorporated into the People’s Republic in 1951.