The Dalai Lama speaks at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) during a panel discussion in Washington DC on February 20, 2014
US President Barack Obama on Friday offered "strong support" for Tibetans' human rights in a meeting with the region's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama that defied China.
"The president reiterated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic traditions and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China," a White House statement said.
The White House said that Obama supported the Dalai Lama's "Middle Way" path of peaceful dialogue and encouraged China to resume long-stalled talks with the exiled leader or his representatives.
The statement rejected Beijing's charges that the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate and self-described pacifist, had a separatist agenda and that his meeting was part of a plot to split China.
"The president reiterated the US position that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China and that the United States does not support Tibet independence.
"The Dalai Lama stated that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and hopes that dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government will resume," it said.