BEIJING - Chinese state media say Beijing has lodged a strong protest against French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama.
The official Xinhua News Agency says today that Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei has summoned the French ambassador to China, Herve Ladsous, "and lodged a strong protest."
Sarkozy met the Tibetan spiritual leader on Saturday behind closed doors in Gdansk, Poland, during celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of former Polish president Lech Walesa's Nobel Peace Prize.
China says Tibet has been part of its territory for more than seven centuries and denounces the Dalai Lama as a separatist who seeks to end Chinese rule of the Himalayan region.
Many Tibetans say they were effectively an independent country for most of that time.
