Everyone knows, courtesy of Bill Murray, that the Dalai Lama is a big hitter, but the fuss being generated worldwide over the ceremony today is over the top. The Dalai Lama is being awarded the highest US civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. The ruckus in Beijing over this is nothing short of ridiculous. The Chinese are starting to believe all the press written about themselves if they were under the delusion that the could order (yes, order) or threaten (yes, threaten) President Bush into not attending the ceremony.
Let's, for the moment, forget that the leaders of this Congress (the ones with single digit approval ratings) are giving the Dalai Lama this honor specifically to irk the Chinese and embarrass the President (why do you think it is happening during their five-year party congress?), this Dalai Lama isn't even advocating a separate state for Tibet, much to the consternation of many Tibetans. Why are the Chinese so upset? First, it take the focus away from their show. There isn't any real concern on their part about a Tibetan separatist movement or the US support of it. Second, and more important, it is the Chinese tit for tat regarding the US (and others now) constantly berating them about the value of the Yuan. Finally, as mentioned above, they think that because of their size everyone is going to back down. They go Mattel to apologize to them, unbelievably, why not the US government.
Fortunately, President Bush isn't going down that road. Instead, he took the high road, saying the honor is for the Lama's religious works and gave those who tried to back him into a corner nowhere to hide. On CNBC, the buzz was what this might to do US-Chinese trade relations. The answer is nothing. The Chinese aren't going down that road with the US. Without the 8-12% growth provided by exporting here, the Chinese government wouldn't last very long.
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2 comments:
China needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs China. The U.S. can sure find new suppliers, where is China getting new customers?
As for the pathetic Congress(I mean, one has to work hard to get such poor approval ratings), The Dalai Lama situation is similar to the pressure being put on Turkey to apologize for the Armenian genocide, to embarrass the President.
Exactly! The President finally called them out on it yesterday during his press conference.
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