Obama Meets Dalai Lama: Hiding a Guilty Conscience Only Reveals It More

Despite China’s strong opposition, on Feb.21, President Barack Obama “informally” met with Tibet’s separatist leader, the Dalai Lama, in a dog-in-the-manger farce that will cast a shadow over China-U.S. relations.

Sovereignty and territorial integrity are core interests of any country. Tibet is an inseparable part of China; therefore, Tibet’s affairs are China’s affairs. Insisting on a meeting to separate Tibet from China’s power is a gesture of contempt toward China’s sovereignty, a disruption of China’s internal affairs and a violation of the norms in international relations, like those in the Charter of the United Nations. This mistake will bring serious damage to China-U.S. relations.

The U.S. government argues that this is nothing but an “informal” chat between President Obama and the “religious leader of the world.” Such a poor disguise really shows how the U.S. government tries to hide a guilty conscience.

Many events and facts over the past few decades are sufficient proof that the Dalai Lama is definitely not a pure “religious and cultural leader,” but a political exile who waves his flag of religion to engage in anti-China separatist activities.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson states that “the United States recognizes Tibet to be a part of the People’s Republic of China and [it does] not support Tibetan independence.” However, the actions of U.S. leaders have made this excuse pale and weak. The spokesperson also says that “the United States supports the Dalai Lama’s ‘middle way’ approach of neither assimilation nor independence for Tibetans in China,” which contradicts what he just said before even more because, in essence, the Dalai Lama’s so-called “middle way” is actually “disguised independence.”

According to The Statesman, the Dalai Lama spoke this month in Assam, India, saying that “we must continue the freedom struggle through the way of nonviolence” and that winning the “struggle” is very important. However, people should not forget that the Dalai clique’s so-called “nonviolent fight” did not spare the lives of innocent civilians in the 2008 Lhasa violence. It willingly released the “self-immolation guide book,” encouraging Tibetans to commit suicide. It willingly destroyed families to “manufacture” Tibetan orphans.

The meeting with the Dalai Lama will never be “nonpolitical” because the Dalai clique has long been a pawn of U.S. strategy toward China, playing a role of causing trouble from time to time. The “Tibet problem,” which the Dalai Lama has been plotting to internationalize, is inseparable from long-term support by the United States.

Regardless of the basic norms of international relations, a rough interference in China’s internal affairs and the support of Tibetan separatist forces, these trends will continue and undoubtedly build a bumpier road of new relations. The overall long-term development of China-U.S. relations is extremely unfavorable. The U.S. should recognize the situation as soon as possible, correct its mistakes as soon as possible and take concrete actions to eliminate the adverse effects of such farce.