Washington:
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, arrived in Washington DC on Wednesday to a singing crowd, ahead of a scheduled meeting with US President Barack Obama.
The Dalai Lama is expected to meet with Obama on Thursday.
He was greeted by Tibetans who welcomed their spiritual leader to the nation's capital, a visit which coincides with the Tibetan New Year.
His visit to Washington comes at a time of tense US-Chinese relations.
Kalden Lodoe, President of Washington's Tibetan Association played down suggestions that Obama meeting the Dalai Lama could cause significant harm to Washington's relationship with Beijing.
"I don't particularly think that despite the rhetoric from the Chinese government, that it's going to harm the relationship because the President (Obama) has made it very clear when he was in China in November that he was going to meet with his holiness and he's not the first United States president that is meeting with the Dalai Lama," he added.
The Dalai Lama's chief envoy said on Tuesday that Obama probably will not make a public appearance this week with the Tibetan spiritual leader during a White House visit that is already infuriating China.
Thursday's meeting in the White House between the Nobel Peace laureates, even if out of the public eye, would be an important boost for Tibet and for the broader US commitment to human rights.
A joint appearance by Obama and the Dalai Lama before reporters could make tense US-China ties even worse and further complicate US efforts to secure Chinese help in settling North Korean and Iranian nuclear standoffs and crucial economic, military and environmental problems.
A series of prickly issues have tested relations between the US and China in recent months, including a US arms sale to Taiwan, trade disputes, and Google's threat to pull out of China amid alleged cyber spying.
The Dalai Lama, who has met with every US president for the last two decades, is a recurring needle in US-Chinese ties.
China accuses the monk of pushing for Tibetan independence, which he has denied repeatedly.
The Chinese consider the Dalai Lama's meetings with any foreign leaders to be an infringement on Chinese sovereignty.
A spokesperson for the Tibetan leader said that while the Dalai Lama does not care where he meets the president, the symbolism of the location is very important to other Tibetans and to human rights activists in the United States and elsewhere.
The spokesperson added that The Dalai Lama has always been puzzled by US presidents not meeting with him in the Oval Office.
Former President George W. Bush appeared at the public presentation in 2007 of a Congressional Gold Medal Award to the Dalai Lama, but presidential meetings with the monk typically have been held away from reporters, often in the White House's private residences.
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that he did not know whether Obama and the Dalai Lama would make a televised appearance after their meeting.
Obama received heavy criticism when he did not meet with the Dalai Lama when the monk came to Washington in October.
China accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing to free Tibet from Chinese rule.
China maintains that Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for much of its history.