TAIPEI (DPA) - Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Friday (July 26) called for a closer cooperation between Taipei and Tibet after representatives of the Taiwanese ruling party met with the Dalai Lama in India earlier in July.

DPP secretary-general Luo Wen-jia said that during a July 17 visit to the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, issues ranging from human rights and democracy to education were discussed.

"Taiwan and Tibet should cooperate closely because we share same values and face the same threat," Mr Luo said.

In a video released by the Voice of Tibet late on Thursday, Mr Luo said the meeting took place and that the DPP delegation was in India mainly to wish happy birthday to the spiritual leader, who turned 84 years old on July 6.

He also said that the DPP representatives and the Dalai Lama discussed the possibility to conduct more exchanges on issues ranging from religion to democracy.

In a defence white paper released on Wednesday, China said it would "not renounce the use of force" in its plan to reunite with Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China sees as a breakaway province.

In the same paper, Beijing listed cracking down against proponents of separatist movements in Tibet as one of its main defence goals.