Obama's Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed

[PatSeg]

Source: Washington Post

In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama's summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month, according to diplomats, government officials and other sources familiar with the talks.

For the first time since 1991, the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit Washington this week and not meet with the president. Since 1991, he has been here 10 times. Most times the meetings have been "drop-in" visits at the White House. The last time he was here, in 2007, however, George W. Bush became the first sitting president to meet with him publicly, at a ceremony at the Capitol in which he awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest civilian award.

The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies as well as backing efforts to elevate China's position in international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund. Obama administration officials have termed the new policy "strategic reassurance," which entails the U.S. government taking steps to convince China that it is not out to contain the emerging Asian power.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100403262.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

[xultar]

1. I know China is pissed about the trade thing, but I don't know if I like this.

[PatSeg]

2. Yeah, it bothers me

but doesn't necessarily surprise me.

[joeycola]

8. I KNOW I do not.

[babylonsister]

3. Obama to Meet With Dalai Lama After President's China Visit

This is good politics, nothing more.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8684252#8684258



Obama to Meet With Dalai Lama After President's China Visit

President Barack Obama will hold off meeting with the Dalai Lama until after his first visit to China in November, a White House official said.

Obama decided not to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader during the Dalai Lama's trip to Washington in October, said White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. The two will meet in the U.S. capital "after the president's trip to China," she said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
...
Jarrett said in a statement she emphasized Obama's commitment to supporting the Tibetan people and securing their human and civil rights. She also said Obama commended the Dalai Lama for looking for a solution based on autonomy within China.

The Dalai Lama expressed the hope the Tibetans may see progress in the resolution of their differences with China during Obama's presidency, according to the statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSg.pjlsQSQk

[IndianaGreen]

6. soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies

OP:

"soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies."

By all means, let's throw Tibetan rights of self-determination and end Chinese occupation under the Obama bus. Since when have ignoring human rights become "good politics?" If a Republican does it, it is bad. If a Democrat does it, it is good.

[PatSeg]

9. The whole world has thrown Tibet "under the bus"

for over five decades. One would hope that the Dalai Lama might see a glimpse of freedom for his people in his life time.

[HamdenRice]

12. Maybe you should check with the Dalai Lama before you let your poutrage at Obama overflow

The Dalai Lama does not seek full "self-determination" for Tibet, and does not want independence for Tibet. He wants Tibet to remain part of China, but with regional autonomy.

Most people put words in his mouth in order to stoke their own poutrage. He's a much more nuanced thinker than most who purport to speak for him.

There was a very long profile of the Dalai Lama in the New Yorker a year and a half ago, and before you spout off about throwing him and his positions under the bus, you might want to learn who he is, and what his positions actually are by reading the New Yorker piece.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/03/31/080331crbo_books_mishra

[IndianaGreen]

4. I guess this means that Tibetan rights of self-determination are thrown under the bus

It is getting crowded under the bus!

[GMA]

5. This is

just shameful.

[dflprincess]

7. Never let principle get in the way of pragmatism.

:sarcasm:

[HamdenRice]

13. Uh...please note that the Dalai Lama does not seek Tibetan "self-determination" outside China nt

[Orsino]

10. If he can't win the next incarnation for Chicago...

...then the Wheel will have rejected Obama.

[frebrd]

11. Seems to me there are two things at which he's especially good........

pussyfooting and throwing under the bus anything that's inconvenient.

:grr:

[wcvarones]

17. Hypovehiculation!

http://wcvarones.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-shuns-dalai-lama-to-appease-china.html

[ShortnFiery]

18. Sadly, I think you are spot on.

:(

[fujiyama]

20. I hate to agree with you

but this is starting to become typical with this administration. This president is appearing spineless and ineffective.

[Deep13]

14. POTUS can talk to whom he wants.

Since when do the Chinese tell us who are friends are?

I'm not a big fan of the D.L. I think the product does not match the adversing. Nevertheless, fuck the Maoist bastards!

[No Elephants]

15. China holds the mortgage on the U.S.

[Deep13]

16. Yeah, you ain't whistlin' Dixie.

:grr:

Thanks for the expensive war, Bush.

[JonQ]

19. I'd rather do the right thing

and have to pay more for cheap manufactured (and often poisonous) items than kow-tow to the chinese government.