BEIJING, November 10 (RIA Novosti, Alexey Yefimov) - China is opposed to contacts between foreign political leaders and the Dalai Lama, a Chinese diplomat said Thursday commenting on a recent private meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and the Tibetan religious leader.
"We are against any foreign political figure meeting with the Dalai Lama and giving him the opportunity to make public statements," Liu Jianchao, the official spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in the Chinese capital.
According to the diplomat, the Dalai Lama is not simply a religious leader but "a man who is conducting subversive activities."
At the same time, Liu Jianchao said the meeting would not affect the U.S. president's November visit to China, when the sides will have the opportunity to discuss a variety of bilateral issues.
In other reports, hundreds of protesters gathered in London Tuesday to greet Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is on a three-day British tour, demanding that he put an end to human rights violations in China and recognize Tibetan independence.
