Obama Sees Dalai Lama at White House

China’s Foreign Ministry says meeting undermines ‘mutual trust and cooperation’ 

WASHINGTON—Barack Obama met privately with the Dalai Lama at the White House on Wednesday, sparking anger from China.

The two leaders discussed issues including human rights and climate change during what the White House called a personal conversation based on Mr. Obama’s appreciation for the Tibetan spiritual leader’s teachings.

Beijing strenuously objected to the meeting, which comes amid tension with Washington over economic and national security issues

President Barack Obama embracing the Dalai Lama at the entrance of the Map Room of the White House on Wednesday. Photo: White House Handout/Zuma Press

Beijing has called the Dalai Lama “an anti-China separatist” and has urged other governments not to host him.

During their meeting, Mr. Obama repeated the U.S. position that Tibet is part of China and that the U.S. doesn’t support Tibetan independence, the White House said. The president also urged the Dalai Lama and his representatives to work directly with Chinese officials to resolve differences.

The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet to India in 1959 and established the Central Tibetan Administration after a failed uprising against Chinese communist rule.

While Beijing says the leader encourages Tibetan independence, the Dalai Lama has pushed for what he calls a “middle way,” advocating for greater autonomy for Tibet, but not independence.

Mr. Obama lauded the Dalai Lama’s approach, the White House said, as well as his commitment to peace and nonviolence.

The Dalai Lama reaffirmed that he isn’t seeking independence for Tibet and wants to resume a dialogue with the Chinese government, the White House said.

Mr. Obama has met with the Dalai Lama on three other occasions—in 2014, 2011 and 2010. Wednesday’s meeting appeared to be patterned after those events, with a closed-door meeting in the Map Room in the residence rather than the Oval Office, which generally is reserved for heads of state or government.

As in 2014, the White House said the president “believes in preserving Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic traditions.”

The meeting wasn’t accompanied by any shift in U.S. policy, press secretary Josh Earnest said.

“Both the Dalai Lama and President Obama value the importance of a constructive and productive relationship between the United States and China,” Mr. Earnest said.

Mr. Earnest said the two also discussed the mass shootings at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub, and the Dalai Lama offered condolences.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it had expressed its opposition to the meeting in “solemn representations” to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

“We need to emphasize that the Tibetan issue is China’s internal affairs and other countries don't have any right to interfere with this,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Wednesday.

He said the Dalai Lama has been undertaking “secessionist activities” around the world, adding: “If President Obama meets with Dalai Lama, it will send the wrong signal to Tibetan separatist forces, and it will undermine the mutual trust and cooperation between China and the U.S.”

The U.S. and China have been at odds over Beijing’s claims to territory and resources in the South China Sea, pitting it against Washington’s allies in the region and leading to tense encounters between U.S. and Chinese military aircraft. The two countries also have had economic differences over China’s currency and manufacturing policies.

The strains overshadowed annual strategic and economic talks held between top government officials of the two countries in Beijing last week, which ended without any significant breakthrough.

—Chuin-Wei Yap in Beijing and Julian Routh in Washington contributed to this article.

Write to Colleen McCain Nelson at colleen.nelson@wsj.com