BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - The Dalai Lama says he isn't offended by the low-key reception he received from President Barack Obama during his visit to the White House earlier this week.
The exiled spiritual leader told the AP on Saturday that he understands Obama must be practical in juggling his desire for human rights in Tibet, while not angering China, a growing economic power.
Obama hosted the Dalai Lama on Thursday but kept the get-together off-camera and low-key in an attempt to avoid inflaming tensions with China.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to remove Tibet from Chinese rule and objects strongly to all his contact with foreign leaders.
The Dalai Lama says that in the "last six decades my heart hardened" and he considers a face-to-face meeting more important than diplomatic stagecraft.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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