BEIJING - China's People's Daily newspaper said in an opinion piece published in its Monday edition that US President Barack Obama's weekend meeting with the Dalai Lama was an "unscrupulous trick of pragmatism," adding that the move has undermined the US's status as a major world power.

Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, a political exile engaged in separatist activities against China under the guise of religious practice, has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, the article said.

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By objecting to the US president's meeting with the Dalai Lama, China is not only safeguarding its own core interests, but is also respecting the principle of non-interference in each other's domestic affairs, a basic norm of international relations, the article said.

"Tibet's peaceful liberation and democratic reform was a major historic event, with significance comparable to the liberation of black slaves in America, the abolition of slavery in Europe and the end of the apartheid system in South Africa," the article said.

The article also questioned the knowledge and morality of US media and officials, who are seemingly fooled by the Dalai Lama's "charming smile" and his title of "Nobel laureate," the article said.

Those who are knowledgeable of history know that the old Tibet, as it was ruled under the Dalai Lama, used a feudal serf system that wasn't abolished until the 1950s, the article said.

The article also said that "American pragmatists" are using the meeting as a political tool, failing to see the great progress that Tibet has made since its peaceful liberation and democratic reform.

It is unfair for the US to handle China-US relations based on its own internal politics, and doing so will not contribute to the stability of China-US ties, the article said, urging Washington to "sincerely" treat Beijing as a strategic partner.