Explained: Why US lawmakers meeting with Dalai Lama in India has miffed China

NEW DELHI: The United States lawmakers' visit to Himachal's Dharamshala has riled up China as the bipartisan group from Washington met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Wednesday.
Reacting to the visit to the Dalai Lama who China considers a "separatist", Beijing fumingly urged the United States to "fully recognise the anti-China and separatist nature of the Dalai clique" and refrain from "any form of contact with it".
Why US delegation visited India?
The seven-member group of American lawmakers visited India to meet the Nobel peace laureate Tenzin Gyatso - the 14th Dalai Lama in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala.
The US delegates meeting the Dalai Lama is part of Washington's decades-long support to the Tibetian people and their rights to practice religion and culture that China has suppressed through its actions violating human rights in the Tibetian region.
A bipartisan bill passed this month by the US House of Representatives seeks to push Beijing to hold dialogue with Tibetan leaders that has been stalled since 2010. The goal is to secure a negotiated agreement on Tibet and address Tibetan aspirations related to historical, cultural, religious, and linguistic identity.
Among the delegation supporting the bill are its two authors and Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives. The act is titled 'Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act' or the Resolve Tibet Act.
The delegation also met officials of Tibet’s government in exile, which functions from India.
Who is Dalai Lama?
Lhamo Thondup, also known as Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 and was identified as the reincarnation of his predecessor at the age of two. He was enthroned in 1940 as the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
The situation went haywire for the Tibetans and those who posed their faith in the 14th Dalai Lama after China invaded Tibet in 1950.
The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against its rule. He has lived in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala since then. In 1989, he was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Why has the visit become controversial?
The US lawmakers meeting Dalai Lama has infuriated China as the meeting comes at a time when Beijing and the US are struggling to improve its all-time low tie -- which is likely to descend deeper.
Meanwhile, India and China are also having one of the frostiest phases in their bilateral relations ever since the 2016 Doklam and the 2020 Galwan standoffs.
US President Joe Biden is expected to sign the Resolve Tibet Act soon, aiming to address the ongoing dispute. Although Washington considers the Tibetan Autonomous Region to be part of China, the Act proposes that Tibetans have a say in their own future.
"This visit should highlight the bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for Tibet to have a say in their own future," Michael McCaul, the chief of the US delegation and one of the bill's authors told news agency Reuters, before departing from Washington.
Why China objects?
China sees Dalai Lama as a "splittist" or a separatist, which the Dalai Lama refuses, saying he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet.
Beijing says it will approve a successor to the current Dalai Lama -- a move which would strengthen its control over the Himalayan region. Whereas, the Dalai Lama asserts that only the Tibetan people can make that call, and his successor could be found in India.