Word: lamas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Last week, President Obama agreed to a meeting that set presses running around the world. His controversial decision to speak with the Dalai Lama generated anger and threats from China. However, despite this vehement response, Obama’s choice to stick by his word and meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader was an admirable one. We agree with the president that the United States should not acquiesce to China’s demands...
...trip last year, Obama announced to China that he would meet with the Dalai Lama. He then declined to meet in October due to the Chinese government’s anger. These past four months, however, did not signal an attitude change on the part of the Chinese government. The country’s resistance to climate change negotiations and refusal to float its currency remain large concerns for the United States. Since ignoring the Dalai Lama has not been effective in establishing a more bilateral relationship with the Chinese government, it is no longer in the United States?...
While China has the potential to act vindictively and refuse to cooperate with the United States in light of the Dalai Lama visit, there is no reason for the meeting to impact the two countries’ economic and environmental conversations. The Chinese government should not conflate these separate issues...
...including that between Washington and Beijing. But as foolish as it would be to ignore this, it's equally foolish to see too much novelty in headline-grabbing stories that fit neatly within established patterns. Chinese officials have expressed outrage before about meetings between foreign leaders and the Dalai Lama. And the Taiwan arms tale follows an even more familiar script. There's nothing new about a U.S. Administration announcing, as Obama's just did, that it's going to sell military hardware to Taiwan. Nor is there anything new about Beijing treating this announcement as proof that...
...Just as all politics is local (to a degree), all diplomacy is domestic (to a large extent). China's dramatic growth may have increased its ability to be less deferential toward the U.S. But when officials loudly proclaim that foreign leaders should steer clear of the Dalai Lama, lash out against Clinton's "information imperialism" or stoke popular indignation about Taiwan, their motivation is largely a desire to play the nationalism card as effectively as possible at home, and it is as much a sign of insecurity as it is one of bravado. They see a value in deflecting criticism...