China Denounces Bush Talks With Activist

China denounced President Bush on Thursday for meeting with a prominent Muslim activist and outspoken critic of Beijing's rule in the far western Xinjiang region, calling the encounter a 'blatant interference' in Chinese affairs.

Bush met exiled Chinese activist Rebiya Kadeer on the sidelines of a conference on democracy in the Czech capital of Prague after praising her in a speech.

'As everyone knows, Rebiya is a convicted criminal,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news conference. 'The relevant activities and actions of the U.S. side constitute a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and we express our strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to that.'