Washington - Meeting with the Dalai Lama US Republican presidential candidate John McCain Friday criticized the human rights situation in China.

The US wants good relations with Beijing, McCain said after his discussion with the spiritual head of Tibet during his visit to the Aspen Institute think tank in Aspen, Colorado.

McCain said however that it did a disservice to the Chinese people if the US and other democracies do not express their concern about the suppression of human rights in China, the senator said, according to the US television network ABC.

The meeting was reportedly the first between McCain and the Dalai Lama. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate acknowledged McCain for his concern about human rights in China, but he stressed that he wasn't endorsing McCain's presidential bid. (dpa)