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Finally, the right thing by President Obama

By Lobsang Wangyal | Tibet Sun

Lobsang Wangyal Tashi Paljor

China whined at the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. There is nothing unusual about it. It was business as usual. The White House announced that there would be a meeting just before the Dalai Lama was to wind up his 10-day spiritual activities in the US Capital.

The change of plans from not meeting to meeting the Tibetan leader must have taken place after carefully debating the pros and cons. The large number of people who flocked to listen to the Dalai Lama when he delivered a speech for world peace on the grounds of the Capitol in Washington, DC, on 9 July may also have been a factor. Obama could not ignore the sentiment of those in attendance and those without who adore the Dalai Lama and support the Tibetan cause.

The meeting earned Obama accolades from the Tibetan people, particularly from those inside Tibet, Tibet supporters and the human rights activists. His meeting with a fellow Nobel Laureate could be seen as upholding his idea of ‘Yes we can’, the slogan that helped him become the most powerful man in the world.

By and large, the meeting could be just a placebo for the Tibetan people, but for the Tibetans inside Tibet, it must have come as a temporary pain killer. Any China bashing would be taken as a refreshment by the Tibetans in Tibet when they do not have any other way to take vengeance for the misery inflicted upon them. Tibetans should have said, “They got what they needed”. China, raising their objection, said that the meeting “grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs” and “hurt the feelings of Chinese people”, but in reality it only hurt the ego of the ruling regime when their position proved sub-par to the US.

The US needed to act to define that subordinate status for China, and the meeting gave that opportunity. China did not miss any chance to assert themselves as an equal player as the US. When Obama’s administration objected Nepal’s decision to bar Tibetans there from voting for their leaders in the exile administration in Dharamshala, China wielded its influence. As a result, Nepal went ahead with the ban, abating American influence, and asserted Chinese supremacy.

Obama approached the meeting as a low-key affair by appearing in casual fashion and kept the meeting closed to the press. During the 44-minute talk, he expressed “strong support” for dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama’s representatives that produces positive results for China and Tibetan people. He, however, restated the official US position that Tibet is a part of the People’s Republic of China and that Washington does not support independence for Tibet.

Every US President since 1991 has invited the Dalai Lama to the White House. The US considers the Dalai Lama a stabilising factor, not the troublemaker that China claims him to be. He is seeking autonomy for Tibet through his non-violent “Middle-way” policy. Therefore, it is quite ridiculous that China continues to insist that the Dalai Lama as being a “splittist” and seeking independence.

Through this meeting, Obama earned respect, Tibetans felt reassured and Chinese authorities got what it sought — the territorial claim over Tibet. And as a bonus, an opportunity to learn.

If whining is something China doesn’t mind, and if China could live with being a subject of mockery and bear the brunt of continued insult at the global stage, the Tibetan issue could be ignored. But the Tibetan issue is gaining more support and it will bite China at every level. Whatever direction China wants to go, it’s up to China to decide.

Copyright © 2011 Tibet Sun

Published in Tibet Sun