President To Meet With Dalai Lama

Tuesday, October 16th 2007, 2:40 pm

By: News On 6

WHITE HOUSE (AP) -- The White House says President Bush has met with the Dalai Lama several times before, so there's no reason not to meet with him again on Tuesday, despite objections from China.

But underscoring the sensitivity of the matter, the White House changed its typical policy and decided not to release a photo of the meeting.

Officials say Bush will also be there when the Dalai Lama accepts his Congressional Gold Medal tomorrow. A Bush spokesman says the president has always attended congressional award ceremonies.

It's a move that China says seriously interferes with China's internal affairs. Chinese officials have demanded the U.S. cancel what the foreign minister called "the extremely wrong arrangements."

The State Department says this week's events are unlikely "to change the basic shape and structure of U.S.-Chinese relations."