Will Obama meet with the Dalai Lama?
The AP’s Foster Klug previews a tough decision for the president: A closely watched visit is set to take place in October, when a frail, 74-year-old Buddhist monk seeks an audience with President Barack Obama. Obama must make a delicate calculation as he considers a meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of ...
The AP's Foster Klug previews a tough decision for the president:
The AP’s Foster Klug previews a tough decision for the president:
A closely watched visit is set to take place in October, when a frail, 74-year-old Buddhist monk seeks an audience with President Barack Obama.
Obama must make a delicate calculation as he considers a meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet’s Buddhists, seen by his supporters as a symbol of peace but vilified by China as a "wolf in monk’s robes" who seeks to split Tibet from the rest of China.
Whatever Obama decides about the visit will spark anger.
Meeting with the Dalai Lama, as every president since George H.W. Bush has done, would infuriate China, whose help the United States sees as crucial to global economic recovery efforts and dealing with nuclear standoffs in North Korea and Iran.
I doubt Obama would flat-out refuse a meeting with the Dalai Lama, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the conversation take a place away from the White House or in some ostensibly unofficial setting as other presidents have done in the past.
Incidentally, I would definitely nominate the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile to Steve Walt’s list of global "over-achievers."
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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