China warns Italy over Dalai Lama visit

BEIJING: China warned Italy on Thursday over a visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing views as a dangerous separatist.
    
The Dalai Lama arrived in Milan on Wednesday, airport sources said, for an 11-day Italian visit that will include an audience with lawmakers.
    
"We hope the relevant countries will proceed from the standpoint of bilateral friendship ... and not provide venues or support for the clique's separatist activities," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said when asked about the visit.
    
The Tibetan Buddhist leader will not appear in the assembly hall of the Italian parliament but in a side room, according to House of Deputies speaker Fausto Bertinotti.
    
A meeting between the Dalai Lama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at her office in September helped provoke a serious diplomatic rift between Beijing and Berlin.
    
Since the meeting, China has cancelled a series of high-level exchanges with Germany, including a planned December trip to Beijing by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck.