China has requested US President Barack Obama cancel plans to meet with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying the meeting would “seriously damage” China-US relations, according to Reuters.

China has requested US President Barack Obama cancel plans to meet with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying the meeting would “seriously damage” China-US relations, according to Reuters.

The White House National Security Council said Obama is going to meet with the Dalai Lama at the White House on Friday to discuss China’s human rights record. The meeting is a “gross interference” in China’s internal affairs, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on the ministry’s website.