US refuses to cancel Obama's Dalai Lama meeting

[oberliner]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON — The White House Friday rejected China's demand for US President Barack Obama to cancel his meeting next week with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked to react to China's warning that going ahead with the meeting would severely challenge already strained ties between the two powers.

"I do not know if their specific reaction was to cancel it," Gibbs said. "If that was their specific reaction, the meeting will take planned as place next Thursday."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hXI8OVscFMtm1tOYCYE6PopIO_tA

[victoryparty]

1. do not cancel

Glad to see this meeting is going to take place. If Obama were to cancel it, I would have to cancel my support for Obama.

http://www.allvoices.com/users/Punditty

[pleah]

2. K&R "already strained ties between the two powers"??

Hmmm

[Posteritatis]

4. Meh, China freaks every time someone speaks to the DL

A Canadian university gave him an honorary degree a few months ago and China responded by cutting its accreditation in China. They tantrum over this guy constantly.

[pleah]

7. Thanks! I kind of thought

that it was just posturing.

[DesertFlower]

3. great news. nt

[Chicago dyke]

5. the DL is a nice guy, i'm sure

but i don't spend my advocating time on the restoration of theocracies. sorry, i have better things to do. and like it or not, china will control tibet for a long, long time. what, like the US is actually going to piss off one of our creditors over the treatment of some monks? don't hold your breath.

i think it's much more effective to try to pressure china, than to continue the celebrity worship of a guy who has exactly no chance of ever being significantly in charge of Tibet ever.

[Rebubula]

10. well then...

...we should just give up and throw good people under the bus.

Sorry...what a shitty attitude.

[BuddhaGirl]

17. "...piss off one of our creditors over the treatment of some monks"

wow...have you not heard of the abuse/suppression/human rights violations of Tibetans by the Chinese?

Very sad :-(

[pundaint]

6. The A response would be "The President of the United States will talk to anyone he pleases"

Lobbyists excluded

[Mithreal]

9. True, and I had hopes we would talk to our enemies even.

[Mithreal]

8. State should revoke his visa, see what Intelligence does

A January 27 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security established that US intelligence agencies stopped the State Department from revoking the US visa of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

CIA shielded Flight 253 "underwear" bomber
http://www.open.salon.com/blog/gordon_wagner/2010/02/03/cia_shielded_flight_253_underwear_bomber

[DeSwiss]

11. F*** China!!!!

K&R

[proteus_lives]

24. +1000

All of America needs to take that stance.

[penndragon69]

12. Some people just don't understand.

His Holiness does not want china to get out and return control to him, rather. he just wants to GO HOME
and be the spiritual leader of all his people, just like he was meant to do.
He has no problem with china running things, he just WANTS TO GO HOME!
Can you blame the man for that?

[Mike 03]

13. Nor should they. Kick this post to the high heavens.

The Dalai Lama? He is one of the kindest, most compassionate human beings that ever walked the earth, and every President since the first Bush or at least Clinton has met with him, and even though China owns us, we have to meet with this great man and acknowledge that Tibet has been screwed.

[lib2DaBone]

14. No one should get excited about the Dali Lama...

He is about as much a holy man as my Uncle Fred. (And my Uncle Fred is basically a drunk Red Neck)

The Dali Lama is one of the oldest employees of the CIA... going back years.. to the late 70's and early 80's when he helped us defeat Russia in Afghanistan. (the first time around). The Dali Holy man has milked this for all its worth over the years.

The US must convince China to float their Currency.. Renmibi, to save our economy.. or at least try. China has repeatedly refused.

So the US looks for ways to piss off China. Sell arms to Taiwan... cavort with the Dali Lama.. whatever it takes.

It's all Bankers Kabuki... Lloyd Blankfien of Goldman Sachs is the REAL holy man....:rofl:

[diane in sf]

15. nonsense, HHDL is quite sincere. I've spent time around him, maybe you should as well before

spewing this claptrap.

[pundaint]

16. What nonsense - we have to rely on China to save our economy?! We just have to stop being stupid.

[BuddhaGirl]

19. that's *Dalai" Lama

n/t

sheesh :eyes:

[proteus_lives]

25. Ok.......

:tinfoilhat:

[OhioChick]

18. Screw China n/t

[robcon]

20. I was upset when he didn't meet him before. Glad to see the meeting will occur.

n/t

[azul]

21. All it takes is the image of the Dalai Lama before their eyes

and these chiefs of communism suffer in strife of losing control.

Misery loves company, and so these big-wigs would make many suffer the loss of their religion rather than admit that all people are entitled to this freedom?

They pretend not to get it, that he is already the clear leader in this game of strife; in the championing of human development of mindfulness and compassion, and love.

[naaman fletcher]

22. The Dalai Lama is a sexist, homophobic, reactionary fascist.

His family kept people in a feudal nearly slave state.

F him and all the hollywood actors who promote his cause.

[Hekate]

23. All China wants is to be allowed to exterminate an ancient culture in peace. My goodness...

... who could fail to see that? :sarcasm:

Apparently a coterie of the ill-informed here at DU think the Chinese government is really just everybody's big brother, with kindly but firm intent. They know little about either China or Tibet.

Tibet has never, ever in the history of either culture been "a part of China" or a "breakaway province" as Chinese propaganda would have it. They were a distinct people with their own language, literature, religion, and system of writing.

So, incidentally, is the US, although we are not as ancient as either of those Asian peoples.

Just because BushCo sold us out doesn't mean we have to complete the deal by kowtowing to China's unreasonable demands and infringements -- to do so would cause us to lose even more face with China than we already have. China already went out of its way to sabotage and insult our president in Copenhagen. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/22/copenhagen-climate-change-mark-lynas That was a test. This is another one.

President Obama met with the Dalai Lama before he became president, and it is entirely proper that he should meet His Holiness again now -- just as we would expect him to meet with the Roman Catholic Pope, who is an equally significant spiritual/temporal leader.

China is testing our president. I think Obama is passing the test, to his credit.

Hekate

[TexasObserver]

26. China will arrest some US citizen on some trumped up charge.

That's how the paper tiger does it. They'll create some incident, like a pouty kid who breaks something when they're mad.

[Vidar]

27. Nice to see a little political courage for a change.