The United States accepts Tibet as part of China but it has pressed Beijing to respect the religious and cultural identity of the mainly Buddhist region. U.S. State department spokesman Richard Boucher says the talks with the Dalai Lama are being held in his capacity as a religious leader and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Bush administration officials say there is no connection between the Dalai Lama's U.S. visit and that of Taiwanese President Chen Shiu-bian who is being allowed to make transit stops in the United States on his way to Latin America. In New York Tuesday, Mr. Chen met several members of the U.S. Congress and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. China has denounced Washington's decision to let the Dalai Lama and the Taiwanese leader visit the United States.
China consider Taiwan a renegade province.