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Washington: The Dalai Lama, after meeting privately Tuesday with President Bush, brushed off China's furious reaction to US celebrations this week in his honor. ''That always happens,'' the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhists said with a laugh, speaking to reporters gathered outside his downtown Washington hotel.
The White House defended the meeting in the president's residence and dismissed Beijing's warning that the talks and the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to him on Wednesday would damage relations between the United States and China.
The Dalai Lama is hailed in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, but Beijing reviles the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and claims he seeks to destroy China's sovereignty by pushing for independence for Tibet, where the Dalai Lama is considered a god-king.
When asked if he had a message for Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Dalai Lama playfully patted a reporter on the cheek and said, ''You are not a representative of Hu Jintao.''
He said that during their meeting, he explained to Bush what was happening in Tibet and said he thanked the president for ''showing his concern about Tibet.''
''We know each other, and we have developed, I think, a very close friendship -- something like a reunion of one family,'' the Dalai Lama said, speaking of Bush.
The Dalai Lama says he wants ''real autonomy,'' not independence, for Tibet. But China demonizes the spiritual leader and believes the United States is honoring a separatist.
Bush and US lawmakers on Wednesday will present the Dalai Lama, who has lived with followers in exile in India since they fled Chinese soldiers in Tibet in 1959, with the prestigious congressional honor.
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