Norway, under pressure from China, says it would not officially meet with Nobel Peace laureate the Dalai Lama when he visits the country next month.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Astrid Versto confirmed today that the government decided against any officials meeting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader when he visits May 7-9, but declined further comment.
China severed diplomatic and economic ties with the Scandinavian country after the Oslo-based Nobel Committee awarded the annual Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
Although diplomatic talks recently resumed between the two countries, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing warned earlier this week that no one should give a platform to what it described as the Dalai Lama's divisive words.
The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
