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Dalai Lama Meets With Bushes
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VIDEO | Lama Followers Gather on Hill
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The Dalai Lama described the meeting as a get-together between close friends -- "like [a] reunion of one family."
"Since we knew each other, we developed some kind of . . . very close friendship," he added.
In addition to briefing the president on the situation in Tibet, the Dalai Lama said he also expressed his appreciation to Laura Bush, who has launched a campaign to rally world pressure against the military government of Burma. It is engaged in a violent crackdown against dissidents, including thousands of barefoot Buddhist monks.
Expressing his solidarity with the monks, the Dalai Lama tugged at his maroon robes and ran his hand across his shaved head, noting that Burmese monks appear quite similar to Tibetan ones.
The images of Burmese troops beating monks, he said, reflects a "very similar" situation in Tibet, where monks have suffered at the hands of Chinese troops.
Despite the stiff language used by Chinese officials, however, the recognition accorded the Dalai Lama was not expected to affect long-term U.S.-China relations. President Hu Jintao, who is about to be acclaimed for a second five-year term at the party congress, has made good ties to the United States the mainstay of his foreign policy.
At the same time, though, China pulled out of a six-nation meeting scheduled for today to plot strategy for dealing with Iran's nuclear program. Liu Jianchao, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that China's decision was for "technical reasons" and that its stand on Iran remained the same, but the message seemed clear.
Similarly, Chinese envoys declined to attend a human rights dialogue sponsored by Germany after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, met with the touring Dalai Lama.
Bush first informed Hu about the Dalai Lama ceremony two months ago during a meeting at an Asian summit in Australia and understands that it will aggravate Beijing, Perino said. But she said that he believes the relationship is strong enough to get past the issue and that he admires the Dalai Lama.
"He is going to be proud" to attend the ceremony, Perino said of Bush. "He believes the Dalai Lama is a strong spiritual leader."
Staff writer Peter Baker contributed to this report.
