Obama defies Beijing to meet Dalai Lama

China on Wednesday warned US President Barack Obama against meeting with the Dalai Lama at the White House, saying that hosting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader could damage mutual trust.

Obama has met the Dalai Lama several times before and calls the monk, who is revered by Tibetans but portrayed by Beijing as a dangerous separatist, "a good friend."

The tete a tete, planned for Wednesday will - as usual - take place behind closed doors in an effort to avoid angering China, which accuses the Nobel peace laureate of using "spiritual terrorism" to seek independence for Tibet.

The spiritual leader - who has lived in exile in India since a failed 1959 uprising - has for decades called for more Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.