*EPF303 09/10/2003
White House Report: Bush Meets at White House with Dalai Lama
(Sept. 10: Dalai Lama/Tibet, Cuba) (360)

President Bush met September 10 at the White House with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, to discuss Tibet, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters. It was their second meeting.

Bush reiterated the administration's "strong commitment to support the preservation of Tibet's unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity, and the protection of the human rights of all Tibetans," McClellan said.

"The president also declared his strong support for the Dalai Lama's commitment to the dialogue with China. The president said he would seek ways to encourage China to continue the dialogue on a substantive basis, and expressed his hope that the Chinese government would respond favorably," the press secretary said. "The president and the Dalai Lama agreed on the importance of strong and constructive U.S.-China relations."

As he left the White House, the Dalai Lama told reporters that his meeting with Bush, and the day before with Secretary of State Colin Powell, had been "very useful" and he deeply appreciated their meeting with him and "their genuine interest and sympathy regarding our problem."

He said he is committed fully to the "middle-way approach" in his dialogue with China, "not seeking independence."

His main concern, he told reporters, "is the preservation of Tibetan culture, Tibetan spirituality, because I believe the Tibetan Buddhist culture, spirituality, is something useful and something really worthwhile to preserve" because it not only concerns 6 million Tibetan people but all humanity.

BUSH POSITION ON CUBAN EMBARGO REMAINS SAME

Asked to comment on votes by the House of Representatives September 9 approving various amendments that would lift some of the restrictions and embargoes the United States has had on Cuba for nearly 40 years, McClellan said "the president's position on the embargo remains unchanged; he is strongly committed to it until there is freedom of elections and freedom of speech and freedom for political prisoners."

The Senate has not yet voted on the amendments, and McClellan said the White House would continue to work with Congress on the matter.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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