TIMES ONLINE: President Obama was accused of bowing to Chinese pressure and snubbing the Dalai Lama as he prepares for a Sino-US summit in Beijing next month.
Tibet’s spiritual leader arrived in Washington yesterday on his first visit since Mr Obama’s inauguration. For the first time since 1991 he will not be received at the White House. The Dalai Lama will eventually meet Mr Obama, but not until the US President returns from the Beijing meeting.
American officials have insisted that the delayed encounter is part of a broad new strategy to win Chinese co-operation on a range of issues including North Korea, Iran, Taiwan — and Tibet. But the break with a nearly 20-year tradition of White House “drop-ins” by the Dalai Lama follows a declaration by Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, that human rights alone cannot be allowed to determine the US-Chinese relationship.
A leading Republican campaigner on human rights called Mr Obama’s failure to welcome the Dalai Lama “just terrible”. Frank Wolf, a congressman, veteran advocate for Tibet and friend of the Dalai Lama, told The Times: “This is a retreat by the Obama Administration on human rights and religious freedom.
“Dissidents in Lhasa will know exactly what it means. Guards will come by their cells and laugh at them. It’s a mistake and the ramifications are going to be felt for months ahead.” One Tibetan expert with ties to Chinese delegations in the US, who did not want to be named, said that the decision was unnecessary since Beijing had been resigned to a meeting going ahead. >>> Giles Whittell in Washington | Tuesday, October 6, 2009
