China strongly opposed the U.S. congress awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang here on Thursday.

Qin made the remarks at a regular press conference, saying the U.S. congress has ignored China's repeated stern representations and insisted on discussing and passing a bill that awards the Dalai Lama a Congressional Gold Medal.

The bill was passed on Wednesday, giving the Dalai Lama, a religious separatist who fled China in 1959, the highest U.S. civilian honor.

Qin said, the international community, including the U.S. government, has already reached wide consensus on the fact that Tibet is an inseparable part of China, but the decision by the U.S. congress has rudely interfered in China's internal affairs, damaged China-U.S. relations and sent seriously wrong signals to those separatists in favor of Tibet independence.

Qin pointed out that the Dalai Lama's words and deeds over the past decades has proved that he is a political exile who has been engaging in separating his home country behind the camouflage of religion for a long time.

"China firmly opposes any country or individual interfering in its internal affairs by manipulating problems relevant to the Dalai Lama", said Qin.

China has firm and unshakable determination to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Qin added.

Source: Xinhua