China’s State media on Sunday slammed the Dalai Lama clique for politicizing a normal investment from a US foundation in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

“The Chinese government has long attached great significance on protecting Tibet’s ecology and exploiting water resources in a reasonable way,” said an article published on Tibet.cn, a website affiliated with the Chinese government.

The remarks came after US Secretary of State John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz had reportedly invested in 12 Chinese companies, including one in Tibet called the 5100 Water Resources Co. Ltd., a Chinese company that sells bottled water allegedly “as a rival to Evian and Perrier.”

The investment then encountered opposition from groups supporting “Tibet independence.”

“It is unfortunate now that through this fund, Secretary Kerry’s family – knowingly or not – is supporting a Chinese business, which is exploiting Tibetan resources and doing harm to its environment,” Alistair Currie, a spokesperson for Free Tibet，an organization of exiled Tibetans advocating "Tibet's independence，" was quoted by the US-based news site Daily Caller as saying.

“The Dalai Lama clique is either being too sensitive or is attempting to hype up the issue as it ‘politicizes’ a foundation’s normal investment activity,” said Tibet.cn.

Active investments in Tibet’s water conservancy construction can help boost comprehensive capability in environment administration and protect water resource ecology. The investments will also help improve livelihood in Tibet, the website added.

The investments are from “HFI Imperial,” a Heinz family trust, according to Daily Caller.

“Secretary Kerry is not a beneficiary of these trusts, and Mrs. Heinz Kerry also exercises no control over the investment decisions made by the independent trustees,” US State Department spokesperson Admiral John Kirby told the Daily Caller.