WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday (Saturday in Manila) offered his “strong support” for the protection of Tibetans’ human rights in China as he defied protests from Beijing to meet the Dalai Lama.

With China warning that the meeting would derail ties between the world’s two largest economies, Obama took care to avoid any trappings of an official visit, receiving the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in the Map Room of the White House residence and not the Oval Office where he usually talks to dignitaries.

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