China is opposed to foreign countries receiving the Dalai Lama, a government spokesman said Friday, one day after US President Barack Obama held a symbolic first public encounter with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

China is opposed to foreign countries receiving the Dalai Lama, a government spokesman said Friday, one day after US President Barack Obama held a symbolic first public encounter with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Beijing is "against foreign countries interfering in China's domestic affairs", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, calling the spiritual leader "a political exile who has long been engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the pretext of religion".