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BEIJING â Prayer breakfast speeches in Washington are rarely, if ever, the source of bruised feelings overseas. Not so this year. President Obamaâs comments at this weekâs religious gathering not only caused domestic problems â offending some conservative American Christians, who objected to the reference to âterrible deedsâ during the Crusades â but have also left China and India piqued. The Chinese objected to the warmth shown to the Dalai Lama, while an Indian official reacted to the presidentâs remarks about acts of religious intolerance in the country by noting that India (read: not the United States) had openly supported the Dalai Lama for decades. For both India and China, Mr. Obamaâs remarks Thursday may have come as something of a surprise. Just over a week ago, Mr. Obama completed a three-day visit to India aimed at reinvigorating a frayed relationship. And until this week, China and the United States had worked out a reliable pas de deux over the Dalai Lama, 79, the Nobel laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader whom Beijing sometimes describes as a âwolf in sheepâs clothing.â Photo The Dalai Lama was an invited guest Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, and President Obama acknowledged him. Credit Evan Vucci/Associated Press It goes like this: Chinese leaders warn the White House against granting the Dalai Lama a public audience, and the American president either ignores the threats of diplomatic fallout or finds a way to meet that will result in the least offense to Beijing. Since taking office, President Obama had met with the Dalai Lama on three occasions, each time within the privacy of the White House rather than during the kind of public event that might prompt outsize indignation on the part of Chinese leaders. Then, on Thursday, Mr. Obama was handed a diplomatically novel way to express his admiration for the Dalai Lama when the two exchanged greetings at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington and the president described him as a âgood friend.â Mr. Obama described the exiled Buddhist leader, who lives in India, as a âpowerful example of what it means to practice compassion,â one âwho inspired us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings.â Both men were invited guests, but the highly public event infuriated Beijing, which accused Mr. Obama of cynically orchestrating the encounter and suggested it was meant to complicate Chinaâs governing of Tibet, a strategically pivotal region that has bridled at Beijingâs rule since Communist troops invaded in 1950. âWe oppose any foreign country allowing the Dalai Lama to visit, and oppose any country using the issue of Tibet to interfere in Chinaâs internal affairs,â Hong Lei, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Friday. The state-run news agency Xinhua was more colorful. âThis action by the U.S. to âdrive a nailâ into the hearts of the Chinese people is harmful to the political trust between the two countries,â it said Friday. China typically reacts angrily when a foreign leader meets with the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of promoting Tibetan independence, although he has said he seeks only the autonomy promised by Beijing. Continue reading the main story Video Play Video|0:29 China Opposes Dalai Lamaâs Foreign Visit China Opposes Dalai Lamaâs Foreign Visit A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, condemned any country that allowed the Dalai Lama to visit or that used the Tibet issue âto interfere in Chinaâs domestic affairs.â Video by Reuters on Publish Date February 6, 2015. Photo by Reuters. If previous presidential meetings with the Dalai Lama are any guide, the harm to United States-China relations will be negligible. Still, Shi Yinhong, director of the Center for American Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, said that Chinese leaders believed they had no choice but to draw semantic lines in the sand. âIf China doesnât protest, then many other leaders would meet up with the Dalai Lama, and that would have a negative impact on our efforts to bring stability to Tibet,â he said. The Indiansâ reaction was more muted, but the incident may take away a bit of the shine on the relationship after Mr. Obamaâs recent visit, when there were displays of friendship that included two embraces between the countriesâ leaders. Mr. Obama had in fact managed a difficult feat while there: delivering a carefully calibrated speech that called for religious tolerance without kicking up a fuss with his hosts, despite the sensitivities in India on the subject. The topic is an especially delicate one for Indiaâs prime minister, Narendra Modi, who was put on a United States visa blacklist in 2005 over his handling of deadly religious riots in the state he then led. But on Thursday, Mr. Obama returned to the theme, saying that in recent years India had seen âacts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji.â This time, Indian news channels ran the story as top news, and two senior ministers issued public remarks. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley talked about Indiaâs supportive relationship with the Dalai Lama â alluding, it seemed, to the fact that the United States treads gingerly in its support for the Tibetan leader, aware of Chinaâs disapproval. âItâs a part of Indiaâs tolerance that even he found it comfortable and India found it comfortable to absorb him in the society,â he said, adding that India âhas a huge cultural history of tolerance. Any aberration doesnât alter the history.â Open resentment issued from other quarters, including Hindu activists, some of whom accuse Christian missionaries of aggressive conversion campaigns and who had, until now, gone along with Mr. Modiâs outreach to the United States. A leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a far-right-wing group, called Mr. Obama âa stooge of the church.â âObama seems to like his natural allies more than his friend,â the groupâs joint general secretary, Surendra Jain, said Friday, presumably referring to Mr. Modi. An article in The Times of India called Mr. Obamaâs words âan embarrassing smackdownâ for a country that had received him âwith euphoria.â http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/world/asia/obamas-public-e ncounter-with-the-dalai-lama-riles-china.html?_r=1 CHIRU - SACHIN - FEDERER |
