Obama offers support for Tibet, Dalai Lama

US President Barack Obama yesterday offered support for Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and his Himalayan homeland, defying Chinese anger by meeting the exiled monk at the White House.

Despite careful US arrangements to keep his visit off-camera, the Dalai Lama walked out of the White House residence and straight to a large group of waiting reporters, telling them he was "very happy" with the 45-minute meeting.

"The President was... supportive," the Dalai Lama said outside the West Wing of the White House, adding that his cause was "just" and one of "peace."

The Dalai Lama also drew a circle and two lines in the snow outside the White House press briefing room - a symbol that may have been a reference to the Tibetan flag.

Such unscripted movements are unusual for VIPs at the White House, but preparations for the Dalai Lama were anything but ordinary.

Hoping to limit Chinese protests, Mr Obama received his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the White House's Map Room - not the Oval Office, the seat of presidential power - and allowed no cameras inside.

But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs later said that Mr Obama had voiced support for the Dalai Lama and his "Middle Way" approach of using nonviolence to pursue greater rights for Tibet underneath Chinese rule.

"The President stated his strong support for the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans in the People's Republic of China," Mr Gibbs said.

"The President commended the Dalai Lama's 'Middle Way' approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government," Mr Gibbs said.

Mr Gibbs also said that the US supported the renewed dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama.

Envoys of the Tibetan leader went to China last month, restarting talks after a more than one-year gap. But the talks have made no tangible progress.

Supporters chanted and waved Tibetan and US flags in the snowy Lafayette Square across from the White House to welcome the Dalai Lama, who has now met every sitting US president since George H. W. Bush in 1991.

China fiercely opposes any foreign contact with the 74-year-old Buddhist leader, who fled his Chinese-ruled homeland in 1959 for India and has since built an enthusiastic global following for his spiritual teachings.