The British Foreign Office confirmed that China canceled the summit between Chinese and British authorities because of the meeting of Prime Minister David Cameron with the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama in London last month.
The UK’s Foreign Office has called the row disappointing and appealed for its sensible resolution. “We believe that this is detrimental to the Chinese and British interests”, said the British Foreign Ministry and called on both countries to deal wisely with the differences, cooperate to the fullest extent and look forward in the future.
The Dalai Lama arrived in London in May to get the Templeton Prize, which is awarded for excellence in research and discoveries in the spiritual life. He fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese. Since then, the Dalai Lama lives in Dharmasala in India. He visited different countries in an attempt to enlist the support of Tibet and Tibetans.
A representative of the Dalai Lama in Delhi said they had no direct knowledge of the reported Chinese demands but were not surprised.