When will your leaders realise that they sound like spoilt eleven-year-old children (or nine, maybe) and that this kind of tantrum shrieking does them far, far more harm than the Dali Lama ever could.

Grow up! Or at least get PR consultants and pretend…

we will need every bit of support we can get from China to avoid global economic meltdown.

Nobody in power cares. The rich get richer when the economy goes to hell. And it’s not like China is in any position to collect on defaulted debts. They’ll just keep complaining about how we hurt their feelings.

GWB = worst president ever!

Wouldn’t this be like Guam separating from the US?

But it makes you wonder why China wants Tibet so much. It’s an insignificant country full of monks with an aging exiled leader.

– President is meeting exiled former head-of-state (well, ok, he’s nominally still in Tibetan gov’t < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet_Government_in_Exile>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet_Government_in_Exile but shares power w/Tibetan Prime Minister) in the Map Room. Not the Oval Office. So, see, it’s not sooper-dooper official.

– In fact, the visit’s so totally not official our president has removed his tie. Heck, this is not even a “State Visit”–no state dinner, no Marine Band playing “Hail to His Holiness” on the tarmac, no aides present, do not pass go do not collect $200–so when the Chinese want to complain (for the nth time) that the U.S. is recognizing H.H.D.L. as some legitimate head of a foreign gov’t we’ve got a smidge of plausible deniability. It was a “private meeting” and dudes we didn’t even sign any papers, mmm’k?

– Politics is a game. It’s chess. Both of these men have gone on the record supporting Tibetan autonomy over independence because (among other things) there are circles within circles of dealings here we are not privy to. During his own presidential administration, Clinton played this game too, and handed out 1000 U.S. visas (complete with green cards) for Tibetans who largely went on to become U.S. citizens. Who the hell knows what kinda deals are going down that they can’t–sheesh, won’t–talk about? Ever hear of the CIA arming Tibetan rebels in Mustang province during the Chinese invasion of Tibet? Go look it up. We were involved, with precious little fanfare, and I can understand why.

IMO the Chinese are waiting for H.H. to die before pulling their next #sarcasm brilliant move /sarcasm re: total dominance of the Tibetan Plateau and its resources. H.H. has no illusions here–he knows what he’s dealing with wrt Chinese government. He was informed personally by Mao Zedong in 1954 that “religion is poison,” has watched the Panchen Lama’s imprisonment and manipulation by the Chinese government, and has witnessed firsthand and secondhand slaughter of Tibetans who oppose Chinese rule (a bodycount of 1,000,000+) or even Chinese [thought] control (in 2008, unrest in the region < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest). To this day, it remains a punishable offense to possess any photo of the Dalai Lama in any area controlled by the Chinese.

Ham-fisted as the Chinese have been at playing this deadly and stupid chess game, the outcomes so far have been… interesting, to paraphrase the old curse attributed to some Chinese aphorism. Smashing Tibetan culture has been, for the Chinese government, like stepping on a water balloon. The droplets have scattered far beyond anyone’s control, and for better or worse, Tibetan Buddhism among other things has spread much farther and wider than Mao Zedong would have ever dreamed. Sure, Tibetan culture itself is now a horrible mess, subverted and manipulated in bad bad ways that defy words. Tibetans continue to suffer (stoicism and suffering quietly is a deeply-admired trait in Asia; I speak as a half-Asian), though it’s never front page news here in the West.

But this game ain’t over yet.

Even as Chinese minders (sometimes posing as monks, sometimes blatantly not) have been placed in Tibetan monasteries, ensuring monasteries remain active sources of tourist revenue even if the monks themselves are not welcome to follow their religious practices or studies, ordinary Chinese citizens have been covertly contacting the monks, asking for religious instruction. These Chinese have sensed that something in their lives is amiss, and maybe, just maybe, those monks may be able to help them somehow. Imagine for a minute being a Tibetan monk and being approached by people whose government killed a million of your people, and now want your help, and they are relying on your compassion to give it to them, compassion that their own government neither fosters nor promotes. Read that Ai Wei-Wei piece from this week? Prison guards doing what to him the entire time? At least he was highly prominent, otherwise they probably woulda just beat the crap out of him.

I realize there are plenty of nonreligious folks here who may not like or agree with the religious aspects of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Buddhism, etc. I argue here that there’s is still plenty to learn from this culture, and this man, who have learned much about adversity and who still teach compassion, which is laudable and doesn’t require any belief in god, God, Gawd, or Supreme Creator.

Xeni, thanks as always for bringing us the Tibetan news round up. Some of us out here, we’re awake. We notice. And we’re grateful for what you’re doing and what your bring to our attention.

I’m saddened by this. I hope President Obama makes clear his position not on freedom for Tibet, but on negotiating for autonomy within the PRC. His statement is vague in that regard.

You did see what the other guy is wearing, right? Somehow I don’t think he’ll mind.

Also: hasn’t the administration effectively said this before?

But it makes you wonder why China wants Tibet so much. It’s an insignificant country full of monks with an aging exiled leader.

It’s an emo thing.

No. But I also didn’t expect him to bend over to gently suckle upon the PRC’s nether regions. Oh wait, yes I did. Because Democrat is a synonym for Republican-Lite.

The oligarchs are squealing as we squirm.

I imagine Pres. Obama’s appearance was appreciated.

His body language not so much. His face is to Tibet, but his legs are crossed in the opposite direction, presumably toward Beijing. His arm is gripping the arm of the chair at an extraordinarily awkward angle, as if he’s about to hurl himself away. He’s a postural chimera, with 30% of his body toward the Dalai Lama and 70% trying to skedaddle.

Put yourself in the position and see what it feels like.

I suppose he’s in a tough position here. But it just makes me mad. Maybe he can do better after 2012.

Fuck that shit. I am 1/300,000,000th of the United States and I beg to disagree. Why CAN’T they be independent?

BTW – I found this to be wonderful and hilarious:
http://boingboing.net/2011/06/14/dalai-lama-fails-to.html

Our business is the upholding of human rights, and the US frequently (although the Obama administration markedly less-so) complains to China about its dismal human rights record, especially so in Tibet, including, among other things, the oppression/eradication of Tibetian culture and identity as well as political human rights violations.