His Holiness the Dalai Lama has visited the United States 10 times in the last 18 years. On each of those occasions he has met with the President, although usually these meetings have been unofficial "drop-ins" (The West Wing once did an episode in which they explain, and demonstrate, how such "accidental" meetings are arranged).
However, in 1997 George Bush not only met publicly and officially with the Dalai Lama, but he gave him a freaking medal. Well, OK, technically Congress gave him the medal, but Bush made a point of being at the ceremony and having his picture taken with HHDL, here's the video:
Obama had planned to meet with the Dalai Lama, and the Administration had even gone so far as to say that they could "live with the Chinese being upset." But then today it was reported in the Washington Post by John Pomfret that the meeting will be "delayed". Obama's spinmeisters call the decision to kowtow to the Chinese "strategic reassurance."
That's foreign relations for you.
ReplyDeleteTrue that.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall that Obama made a big deal about insisting that he would meet with anyone.