China has issued a strident warning to Mongolia for hosting the Dalai Lama who began a four-day visit to the Central Asian country on Saturday.
China is "firmly opposed to the anti-China separatist activities by the Dalai Lama in any country, in any name, and in any capacity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in Beijing.
Beijing, he said, had demanded that Mongolia "not allow the visit by the Dalai Lama and do not promote any facilitation for the separatist activities by the Dalai clique."
Mongolia, which is heavily dependent on trade with China, has tried not to anger Beijing with its foreign minister saying that the government has nothing to do with the Dalai Lama's visit.
The monastery that organized the visit also said it was completely religious and not linked to political affairs.
The Dalai Lama arrived in Mongolia’s capital of Ulan Bator on Friday in a visit that will continue until November 22.
China views the Dalai Lama as the leader of the secessionists pursuing independence for Tibet.
Beijing has for long opposed the Dalai Lama’s meeting with different heads of states as well as his visit to other countries that depend on China for investment.
The Dalai Lama fled a failed uprising in Tibet in 1959 and retired from politics in 2011. However, he maintains that he seeks only greater autonomy for Tibetan areas in China. Beijing regards Tibet as an integral part of its territory.
The exiled leader has been accused of supporting use of violence to set up an independent state in the Himalayan region.
The spiritual leader has been blamed for plotting against China with the help of the US. From the late 1950s until 1974, the Dalai Lama received $180,000 from the CIA each year.
