BEIJING - China accused the United States on Tuesday of "rude interference" in its domestic affairs by playing host to Beijing foes Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
"China has always opposed all forms of official contacts with Taiwan by countries with which we have diplomatic relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said of Chen's two-day stopover in New York.
China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province not entitled to official links with the outside world, was "strongly dissatisfied and opposed" to Chen's American stopover and plans to meet U.S lawmakers, Zhu told a news conference.
China was also "concerned" at plans for the Dalai Lama to meet President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington this week, he said.
"We call on the U.S. government to recognise Tibet as Chinese territory, stop supporting Tibetan independence and stop using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's internal affairs," Zhu said.
Chinese anger at the Bush administration allowing two of its main political enemies on U.S. soil at the same time comes while Beijing is still smarting from the April 1 Hainan island spy plane incident and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
Ties are also strained by U.S. human rights criticism, particularly over China's harsh crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, and by U.S. plans to build an anti-missile shield which Beijing fears will nullify its strategic arsenal.
CHINA SEES "HARD-LINE" ATTITUDE
"Recently, the U.S. government has taken a hard-line attitude and policies toward China. On issues such as Taiwan, Tibet and religious affairs, it has endlessly interfered in China's internal affairs and hurt China's interests," Zhu said.
"These troubles in China-U.S. ties were not created by us and are not something we wish to see," he added.
In a private visit long expected to rile Beijing, Chen arrived at Newark International Airport in New Jersey on Monday for a two-night stopover on the way to El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Honduras.
Chen plans to meet meet U.S. Congressmen, receive a courtesy call from New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and visit the New York Stock Exchange and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On his way home, Chen is also scheduled to stop for a night in Houston, where senior Republican House member Tom DeLay plans to take him to an Astros baseball game.
DANGEROUS PRECEDENT
The last time a Taiwan leader visited the United States was in 1995 when President Lee Teng-hui made a high-profile visit to Cornell University, his alma mater, in New York state.
Beijing was so angry it briefly downgraded ties with Washington and froze semi-official talks with Taipei.
China also conducted months of menacing war games in waters surrounding Taiwan, prompting the United States to send two aircraft carrier battle groups to the area.
U.S. officials said on Monday Bush and Powell would meet the Dalai Lama at the end of his nine-city tour of the United States.
One official said Bush would have a private meeting with the 1989 Nobel laureate on Wednesday, the day China's government marks the 50th anniversary of what it calls the "peaceful liberation" of Tibet.
Exiled Tibetans, nationalists in Chinese-controlled Tibet and their international sympathisers reject celebrations of a date they say sealed the Communist occupation of the vast region.
China's suppression of Tibetan nationalism has made the fate of the Himalayan region a deeply emotive issue in the United States, where the Dalai Lama enjoys a kind of spiritual stardom enhanced by the support of luminaries like actor Richard Gere.
Last week, China criticised the U.S. decision to appoint Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky as special coordinator for Tibetan issues and indicated it would continue to refuse to deal with the person in the post.
05:23 05-22-01
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