WASHINGTON — President Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House on Friday morning, provoking a sharp rebuke from the Chinese government, which warned that the meeting would severely damage relations between Washington and Beijing.

But this time, in contrast to previous meetings, the White House seemed unruffled by the diplomatic repercussions of the visit by the Tibetan spiritual leader, which comes as the United States is taking a firmer line with China on a range of territorial disputes with its neighbors.

Mr. Obama, the White House said in a statement, reiterated in the meeting his support for the rights and religious liberties of Tibetans in China. He called on the Chinese government to resume a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India.

The 45-minute meeting was held in the Map Room, not the Oval Office — a modest concession to the Chinese, who view the Dalai Lama as an anti-China separatist. But that did not prevent the Chinese Foreign Ministry from demanding that Mr. Obama cancel the meeting altogether.