China urged the United States to immediately cancel plans for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama next week, warning that the move could further hurt ties between the two countries.

A foreign ministry spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, issued the remarks hours after Washington announced that Obama would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader at the White House on 18 February.

China accuses the Dalai Lama of pushing for Tibetan independence, which the Dalai Lama denies, and believes that shunning the exiled Tibetan monk should be a basic principle of international relations. Obama has been under intense pressure to meet the Dalai Lama after postponing a meeting in October.

"We urge the US side to fully understand the high sensitivity of Tibet-related issues, honor its commitment to recognising Tibet as part of China and opposing 'Tibet independence'," the foreign ministry said. The US should cancel the meeting "so as not to cause further damage to Sino-US relations".

A White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said Obama looked forward to an "engaging and constructive dialogue" with the Dalai Lama.

Every US president for the last two decades has met the Dalai Lama, who enjoys widespread support in the US, and those visits are considered powerful signs of the American commitment to human rights. Obama told China's leaders last year that he would meet with the monk.

China-US relations have been strained in recent weeks over several issues: Washington announcing a $6.4bn arms sale to Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own; US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton urging Beijing to investigate hacking attacks that led to Google's threat to pull out of China; and Obama vowing to get tough with China on a currency dispute.