Is the media blitz about Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama overblown?
Hawks: No. The Tibet issue is extremely sensitive. If Obama had met with the Dalai Lama in the Oval Office, that would be affording him the dignity of a head of state. It was important for the president not to impinge on the national sovereignty issue, which China cares so much about. Before the Communists, in imperial China, ceremony was a way to reinforce hierarchy, and it’s still crucial, even though in the United States we’re much more informal. Is Tibet more sensitive than our relationship, and billions in arms sales, to Taiwan? Tibet and the Dalai Lama issue is far more sensitive. When it comes to Taiwan, we’ve had a bipartisan foreign policy since the ’70s, and we’ve developed a middle position, committing ourselves to supplying defensive weapons. It’s a delicate diplomatic situation, but the sale of weapons to Taiwan is the status quo and shouldn’t anger the Chinese government. With the Dalai Lama, adhering to the status quo is more complicated, and Obama must make the gesture
