Mr Key said yesterday he was not going to meet the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader when he visits New Zealand in December.
"I may in the future, but I have met with him in the past and decided on this occasion there is no particular need to meet with him," Mr Key said.
China always objects to senior political leaders meeting the Dalai Lama as he represents opposition to China's occupation of Tibet.
Mr Key said the issue had not been raised by the Chinese leadership at recent Apec and Asean meetings, but he had told President Hu Jintao that he would not be meeting the Dalai Lama on this occasion.
"We would understand the way the Chinese would deal with these things, but on the other side of the coin that wasn't the over-riding factor. There are a number of factors involved," Mr Key said.
The Green Party's foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, questioned Foreign Minister Murray McCully in Parliament today about the advice Mr McCully or his ministry had given Mr Key about meeting the Dalai Lama.
"He did discuss the matter with me," Mr McCully said.
"He sought some advice as to what other nations' leaders were doing in similar situations and he also sought some advice as to foreign policy consequences that would follow from decisions he might make."
Mr McCully confirmed that no government ministers intended meeting the Dalai Lama, who is due to visit at the invitation of the Tibetan Buddhist Community of New Zealand.
He is due to visit Auckland on December 5 and 6 to give a public speech.
President Hu yesterday referred to China's "sovereignty over Taiwan and other matters", with some analysts predicting China will demand the United States accept China's sovereignty over the restive frontier regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei, capital of self-ruled Taiwan, to Beijing in 1979 but remains the island's main arms supplier.
United States President Barack Obama did not meet the Dalai Lama when the latter was in Washington in early October, but earlier this week he urged China to resume talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives.
The Dalai Lama has said they may meet when the president returns from China.
The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India after an abortive uprising in 1959, nine years after Chinese troops marched into the Himalayan region.
NZPA
source: newshub archive
