The Tibetan spiritual leader has said that he long admired the US as the “champion of democracy, freedom and the rule of law” while congratulating US president-elect Donald Trump for his election win, AP reports.

“The Tibetan people and I have been honoured to have received the support of respective US Presidents and the American people, in our endeavour to protect and preserve our ancient Buddhist culture — a culture of peace, non-violence and compassion that has the potential to benefit humanity as a whole,” he said.