The Dalai Lama was on Capitol Hill to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honour in the United States. The decision to present the award infuriated China’s Communist leaders, who on Wednesday said they were insulted by American “interference” in the country’s internal affairs.

Congress was honouring the Dalai Lama because of his importance as a religious figure, and in recognition of his efforts toward peace, nonviolence, human rights and religious understanding and tolerance.

The Congressional Gold Medal was designed and struck by the Mint and was presented by Bush to the Dalai Lama in the Capitol Rotunda. The U.S. Mint is now offering bronze replicas of that medal to the general public.

The front of the medal, designed by Mint sculptor-engraver Don Everhart, includes a portrait of the Dalai Lama with the Himalayas in the background. The inscriptions are “14th Dalai Lama of Tibet,” “enzin Gyatso,” which is his birth name, “Act of Congress” and “2006.”

The reverse, designed by Joseph Menna, a Mint medallic sculptor, shows a stylized lotus flower, a symbol of purity, and a quotation from the Dalai Lama: “World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion.”

Three-inch bronze reproductions of the medal went on sale Wednesday at $38. The shipping and handling fee is $4.95 per order. Presentation cases are available. For information, go to www.usmint.gov or call (800) 872-6468.