Meeting The Dalai Lama

Obama will do it, over China's objections. It should be noted that, in terms of priority and propriety, the Dalai Lama has taken a backseat to China: the exiled Buddhist leader was in Washington, DC Oct. 6 to receive a human rights award in honor of the late Rep. Tom Lantos. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had brought the Dalai Lama to DC before to award him the Congressional Gold medal, presented him with the Lantos award, but President Obama did not meet with the Dalai Lama then.

At that time, Obama hadn't yet met with Chinese President Hu Jintao--he would meet with Hu the next month in Beijing--and the Lama would not come first. Today, Obama has met with Hu several times, and though China warned Obama not to meed with the Dalai Lama, it's not as if Obama has put him before the Chinese leader.