US President George W. Bush on Wednesday offered his support to Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and commended him for his efforts to initiate a dialogue with the Chinese government.
After a White House meeting with the Dalai Lama, which was expected to further strain frayed US-Chinese relations, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer issued a statement saying Bush had vowed to encourage China to engage the Dalai Lama in a dialogue.
"The president said he would seek ways to encourage dialogue and expressed his hope that the Chinese government would respond favorably," Fleischer said in the statement.
"The president also reiterated the strong commitment of the United States to support the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of the human rights of all Tibetans," it said.
The White House statement also said Bush and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of strong and constructive relations between the US and China.
Although the Dalai Lama has met previous US presidents, Bush went further than his predecessors by hosting the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, in the Yellow Oval Room in the White House residence.
Former president Bill Clinton met the Dalai Lama several times during his tenure, but just as a "stop by" while the Tibetan was meeting with other administration officials.
Fleischer said the meeting was not meant to signify any policy change toward Beijing.
"The president continues to believe that we can work with China on issues where we have an agreement such as trade," he said. "There will be other areas such as human rights and religious persecution where the United States and China will differ and the president will not hesitate to discuss those issues in an effort to ameliorate them."
As he left the White House, the Dalai Lama said he and Bush discussed Tibet and Sino-US relations.
"I [asked] him that in the future, whenever the president had the opportunity to meet Chinese leaders, he can assure the Chinese government that I am not seeking independence," he said outside the White House.
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, says he seeks autonomy for Tibet and not separation from China, which occupied the territory in 1949.
China argues it has vastly improved the economic conditions of the once-closed region in the Himalayas.
The Dalai Lama also predicted that China will inevitably follow the global trend toward democracy.
"They're not a house or a great nation or a powerful nation," he said in somewhat halting English. "They're still part of the world. Therefore, the People's Republic of China, you see, sooner or later, has to go according to the global trend. That is democracy, rule of law, openness and religious freedom."
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