On Saturday His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with President Barack Obama in the map room of the White House. The meeting lasted for 45 minutes and was closed to the press. After the meeting the White House press secretary issued a statement saying that the President supports the preservation of Tibetan culture and the protection of human rights in Tibet. The President also said the United States recognizes Tibet as part of China.
Upon news of the meeting the government of China threw one of its standard hissy fits. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a boilerplate warning that the U.S. was interfering with Chinese internal affairs and risked harming Chinese-U.S. relations. No one expects China to follow through in any tangible way.
The President was criticized by some Americans for holding a private meeting with His Holiness with little fanfare. I have no way to know why the White House handled the meeting this way, but I can guess.
In 2007 President George W. Bush publicly awarded a Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness. Although this gesture may have been well intended, it had unfortunate repercussions. News of this award touched off celebrations and demonstrations in and around Lhasa monasteries, followed by crackdowns by Chinese security forces. Increased tensions carried over to the following year, to the uprising in Tibet of March 2008, which resulted in widespread violence and several deaths.
The public award was only one of many factors that fed into the events of March 2008, of course. But given the ongoing tensions between Tibetan Buddhist monastics and China, I don't blame the White House for being cautious and keeping meetings with the Dalai Lama low key.
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