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China should view the Dalai Lama's high-profile visit to Washington next week as a chance to listen to the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader who Beijing shuns as a Tibetan separatist, his envoy said today.
Despite fierce Chinese lobbying, the Dalai Lama will receive the US Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honour Congress can bestow, on Wednesday after being hosted at the White House by President George W. Bush the day before.
The award ceremony at the US Capitol will be the first time Bush will have appeared in public with the Dalai Lama, who has visited the White House only for private meetings.
- REUTERS
