"The 14th Dalai Lama is a political exile who has long been engaged in anti-China separatist activities in foreign countries under the pretext of religion. The Dalai Lama is also the head of the Tibetan independence group," PTI quoted China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
The Democrat leader vowed the delegation's support to the Tibetan people, but didn't signify a change in stance on the US government's stand.
"You will not be silenced. The brutal tactics of the Chinese government to erase race, culture and language of Tibetan people challenges the conscience of the world. We will meet that challenge," Associated Press quoted Pelosi.
Experts said Pelosi and seven other House members' visit cannot be viewed as any change in the official US policy. "Nancy Pelosi led a bipartisan House delegation. She had earlier also visited The Dalai Lama and holds him in high esteem and maintains she is seeking spiritual guidance from him. Many other leaders seek Tibetan guru's spiritual guidance, but that can't be equated with the official policy of their governments," Dr. Ashok Sharma, Fellow at the Melbourne-based Australia-India Institute, told Sputnik.
The US delegation's visit comes few weeks after President Donald Trump hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a summit meeting. During his presidential campaign, Trump had targeted China as a trade adversary and currency manipulator and vowed to address these issues.
After Trump's meeting with Xi, the US and China seem to be working on restraining nuclear-armed North Korea. China even abstained from a recent US-sponsored resolution condemning the alleged chemical attack in Syria in the UN Security Council. Before this, China vetoed at least six UN Security Council resolutions against Syria along with Russia.
