WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuter) - The United States on Thursday brushed aside a stiff Chinese protest and said President Bill Clinton's brief meeting with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, was "most appropriate."

"We feel very comfortable that what happened yesterday, the reception given the Dalai Lama at the White House, was most appropriate," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

China lodged protests in Washington and Beijing about the meeting with the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his 45-year non violent quest for Tibetan autonomy from China.

Clinton dropped by for about five minutes as the Dalai Lama met on Wednesday at the White House with Vice President Al Gore. Previous visits by the Dalai Lama have been handled the same way by the Clinton White House.

China, which sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and regards it an integral part of Chinese territory, lashed out at the meeting as interference in its internal affairs.

"We've consistently said that senior United States officials would meet with the Dalai Lama because of our high regard for him as a religious leader and an advocate of peaceful resolution of disputes," Burns said. Earlier on Thursday in Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing summoned U.S. charge d'affaires Scott Hallford to deliver the Chinese protest. In Washington, the Chinese charge, Zhou Wenzhong, came to the State Department to lodge it with Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord, an administration official said.

Burns said he did not expect the incident to hurt U.S.-China relations, already strained by disputes over Taiwan, human rights, trade and exports of missile technology to Pakistan and Iran.

He said plans were going ahead for a meeting in New York next week between Secretary of State Warren Christopher and his Chinese counterpart, Qian Qichen.

Another U.S. official said it was "too early to tell" if the Chinese were planning any retaliatory steps.

Beijing suspended most high-level contacts with the United States last June after a landmark private visit to the United States in June by President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province not entitled to independent foreign relations.

The United States accepts Beijing's view that Tibet is part of China but is urging that Tibetans be given "a significant say in the handling of their own internal affairs," Burns said.