BEIJING: China will never recognise the United States’ appointment of a special coordinator for Tibetan issues, China’s foreign ministry said yesterday, saying it opposes any foreign intervention in its internal affairs.
President Barack Obama held low-key talks with the Dalai Lama on Friday, prompting condemnation and warnings from the Chinese government that the meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader would damage US-China ties.
Washington urged the Chinese government on Friday to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions as a means to reduce tensions.
To encourage those talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he had named one of his officials, Sarah Sewall, as a special coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
“The Chinese government resolutely opposes any foreign country using the so-called Tibet problem to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing.
Bangladeshi militant killed
DHAKA: An Islamic militant from a banned group who had escaped from a prison van was killed in a gunfight in Bangladesh yesterday hours after being recaptured.
Rakib Hasan and two other convicts from the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) escaped Sunday after attackers hurled bombs and opened fire at the van in, killing a policeman. Police recaptured Hasan later Sunday.
Police said they were escorting Hasan yesterday to a place in neighbouring Tangail when his friends opened fire on police. We were forced to retaliate with gunshots,” Tangail district police chief Hasibul Alam said. “At one stage Hasan was shot dead after receiving bullets in the chest and throat,” he said.
Agencies
