Gyaincain Norbu, the Panchen Lama chosen by Beijing, made the remarks on a tour of Tibetan areas in Sichuan and Gansu provinces earlier this month, the official China News Service reported on Tuesday as quoted by The South China Morning Post.

The report came days after President Xi Jinping visited Tibet for the 70th anniversary of its “peaceful liberation”, urging Tibetans to follow the Communist Party’s socialist path. Xi had last visited the region as vice-president in 2011, vowing to fight against “separatist activities” linked to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader whose influence China has spent years trying to remove, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met a representative of Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama in New Delhi during his visit to the city on Wednesday, an incident which may draw China's wrath.

He shared an image on Twitter where Dalai Lama's representative Ngodup Dongchung could be seen attending the meeting.

"I was pleased to meet civil society leaders today. The U.S. and India share a commitment to democratic values; this is part of the bedrock of our relationship and reflective of India’s pluralistic society and history of harmony. Civil society helps advance these values," Blinken tweeted.

Dalai Lama has been living in India  ever since he fled Tibet in 1959 during the Tibetan uprising.

The Buddhist spiritual leader created a government-in-exile in the north Indian Himalayan region of Dharamsala. He even launched a campaign to reclaim Tibet from China.

India had granted asylum to Dalai Lama in 1959.

China sees him as a separatist.