So the Dalai Lama is in the U.S. and is going to meet US President George W. Bush’s special envoy, Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky. The timing is, to put it mildly, unfortunate. There’s already so much sound and fury out there that it’s hard to think constructively. Beijing is already steaming mad and no doubt the internet will add the the furore. At this point it would be great if everyone could just back off, take a deep breath and maybe start over. But of course, that’s the whole point of the lead up to the Olympics, it’s irresistible to protesters as the pressure on China will only get stronger as 8-8-08 (the opening ceremony date) approaches. It’s still puzzling what exactly they hope to accomplish. The Darfur campaigners have actually won some ground from China, though to them, it is too little too late. But as to the rest, and in particular the well organized Tibetan campaign, it’s now a losing game. There’s no way Beijing is going to concede anything, particularly having let the nationalism demon out of the closet. Can you imagine the reaction now if the Foreign Ministry suddenly announced that the DL had come to an agreement allowing him to return to Tibet, or even just that official talks had been agreed?
I just hope that we can get through to a fairly calm, successful Olympics without adding another scar to the Chinese roll call of national humiliation: the Opium wars, first burning of Summer Palace, Boxer Rebellion, invasions, second burning, Japanese invasion and various other malfeasances, this list now possibly ending with some sort of half baked boycott of the Olympics. Frankly, I think we all hoped (and wrote) that a successful staging of the Olympics would allow Chinese to get beyond that stale archetype and take a confident place on the world stage. I still think a lot of the indignation (boycott Carrefour! apologize for calling us goons!) really is noise and light that will die away. The Chinese are a great people and while they may be irritated by criticism (most of it by the way, directed at the government, not the people, a critical distinction, particularly for Americans, most of whom are at best embarrassed by Mr. Bush when asked about him by foreign friends if not downright appalled), they and the country know that when you play in the big leagues you have to be able to take criticism from friends and opponents. (A point trenchantly made at Peking University recently in a speech by Oz PM Kevin Rudd.)
Meanwhile, let’s hope that Ms. Dobriansky can at least remember that she’s talking about Tibet, NOT Nepal. (for anyone who has yet to see Bush’s National Security adviser making an utter turkey out of himself, here’s the link)