Published by World Tibet Network News - Thursday, October 24, 1996BEIJING, Oct. 24, 1996 (Kyodo) -- China strongly protested Thursday a meeting between the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and officials of the European Union and accused the EU of interfering in China's internal affairs.
''We have already expressed our strong dissatisfaction and stern protest,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said.
''The European Parliament has offered a forum in which the Dalai Lama can carry out his political activities to split the motherland,'' Shen said.
The Dalai Lama, who fled China after an aborted coup in Tibet in 1959, met European Parliament officials Wednesday during a three-day visit to Strasbourg, France.
The Dalai Lama routinely travels around the world from the seat of his exiled government in Dharmasala, India, to seek autonomy for Tibet.
A meeting between the Dalai Lama and Australian Prime Minister John Howard last month also put Sino-Australian relations in hot water, with Beijing saying the meeting will effect bilateral ties.
The Chinese press, in commemorating the 45th anniversary of China's ''peaceful liberation'' of Tibet this October, has published a stream of articles praising economic development in Tibet.
