China has protested a meeting between a US official and the Dalai Lama, calling it an effort to meddle in its internal affairs.

Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday following the weekend meeting in Michigan, where US Under-Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, held talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

"This is a serious violation of the basic norms of international relations and interference into our internal affairs," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference Tuesday.

Calling the meeting an 'irresponsible' move, Jiang strongly urged the US to stop supporting the Dalai Lama, saying, "We urge the US side to ... stop indulging and supporting the Dalai clique in its separatist activities so as not to harm our bilateral relations and the image of the US itself."

Dobriansky, who serves as the US special envoy for Tibet, said the meeting, the 12th so far between the two, provided a 'timely opportunity' to discuss the current situation in Tibet.