Washington - The US Congress presented the Dalai Lama with a human rights award on Tuesday as President Barack Obama faced criticism for putting off plans to meet with Tibet's spiritual leader. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, attended the ceremony on Capitol Hill to honour the Dalai Lama, urging China to pursue a peaceful resolution over Tibet.
"Unless we speak out for human rights in China and in Tibet, we lose all moral authority to talk about human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi said.
The Dalai Lama was presented with an award named in honour the late congressman Tom Lantos, who was a Holocaust survivor and tireless advocate for global human rights.
"For me to receive this award is a truly great privilege, especially in that the award is named after an individual whom I admire deeply and who made tremendous contributions to the human rights in the world," the Dalai Lama said through a translator.
The White House has said Obama will meet with the Dalai Lama after he visits Beijing in November. Obama is seeking closer ties to China in order to recover from the economic crisis, persuade Beijing to introduce economic reforms and get on board in the fight against climate change. China is critical of leaders who meet with the Dalai Lama.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs defended the decision to meet with the Dalai Lama after the trip to China, saying stronger US ties to China will benefit Tibet's cause.
"We are concerned about the people in Tibet, and we are concerned about the Chinese," Gibbs said Tuesday. The stronger relationship that we have with China benefits the Tibetan people."
Non-governmental organization Freedom House was among those critical of Obama's move.
"The doors of the White House should always be open to a globally revered advocate for peaceful efforts to secure fundamental human rights," said Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House executive director.
"It is hard to see how shunning the Dalai Lama will advance American interests," she said. "The Obama administration is presenting an unfortunate profile by putting human rights so conspicuously on the backburner in its relations with repressive regimes."
The Dalai Lama's special envoy, Gyaltsen Gyari, said he expressed support for the White House and US engagement with the Chinese to "create conditions that support the resolution of the legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people."
The Dalai Lama has traditionally held private meetings with US presidents during visits to Washington. The Washington Post said it would be the first time the Dalai Lama will have visited Washington without meeting with the president since 1991.
During the Dalai Lama's last visit in 2007, then-president George W Bush met with him publicly at the Capitol to award him the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest civilian award.
