U.S. President George W. Bush and Congress will stir Chinese anger this week when they honour the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet's Buddhists.

The Dalai Lama is greeted upon his arrival in Washington Monday.
(Lawrence Jackson/Associated Press)

While the Dalai Lama is lauded in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, Beijing reviles the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and claims he seeks to destroy China's sovereignty by pushing for independence for Tibet, where the Dalai Lama is considered a god-king.

China warns that a planned White House meeting Tuesday between Bush and the Dalai Lama and a public ceremony Wednesday to award the spiritual leader the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal are bad for U.S.-Chinese ties.

The Dalai Lama's special envoy, Lodi Gyari, said images of the U.S. president standing beside the Dalai Lama at the congressional ceremony will send a clear message that "people do care about Tibet. We have not been forgotten."

"I have no doubt this will give tremendous encouragement and hope to the Tibetan people," he told reporters ahead of the visit.

It also "sends a powerful message to China that the Dalai Lama is not going to go away."

The Dalai Lama says he wants "real autonomy," not independence, for Tibet.

But China demonizes the spiritual leader and believes the United States is honouring a separatist. The Dalai Lama's U.S. visit comes as China holds its important Communist Party congress.

Chinese diplomats have worked doggedly since the U.S. award was voted on last year to get the ceremony and meeting with Bush scrapped and to "correct this mistake," said Wang Baodong, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

"We are certainly very much displeasured and regret the fact that the U.S. side would totally ignore the repeated positions of the Chinese side and go ahead with its erroneous decision," Wang said in an interview. "Such moves on the U.S. side are not a good thing for the bilateral relationship."

A State Department official said Monday that China was protesting U.S. honours for the Dalai Lama by pulling out of an international strategy session on Iran sought by the United States and planned for Wednesday.

Distinguished achievements

China objected to participating in the meeting on the day that the Buddhist leader was to receive the congressional honour, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe another country's motives.

Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. Recent winners have included civil rights icon Rosa Parks; former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy; cartoonist Charles M. Schulz; Gen. Henry Shelton and former British prime minister Tony Blair.

Congress has long championed the Dalai Lama; lawmakers also regularly criticize Beijing for human rights abuses and a massive military buildup and claims that China ignores abuse by unsavoury foreign regimes in its pursuit of energy deals.

The Bush administration also finds fault with China but is usually more measured as it seeks to manage a booming trade relationship and a desire to enlist Chinese co-operation on nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran.

Bush has met several times privately with the Dalai Lama, and, analysts say, his decision to attend the public congressional ceremony reflects his worry over the situation in Tibet.