Move FM Global News

NEW DELHI, India: China is expected to deliver an angry response to a meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held with a representative of Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Blinken met with Ngodup Dongchung, a representative of the Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan government in exile.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. China seized Tibet in 1950.

Tibetan advocacy groups have received increasing recognition due to criticism of China’s human rights record.

In November 2020 the White House hosted a meeting with Lobsang Sangay, the former head of the Tibetan government in exile.

In December 2020 the U.S. Congress passed the Tibet Policy and Support Act, voicing support for Tibetans to choose the successor to the Dalai Lama, and urging the opening of a U.S. consulate in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Blinken’s meeting in New Delhi is the highest level contact with the Tibetan leadership since the Dalai Lama met President Barack Obama in Washington in 2016.

China has not yet commented on Blinken’s meeting. Beijing says Tibet is a part of China and has labelled the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist.