Washington, Feb 17 (ANI): The United States, after months of reaching out and being accommodating to China, has decided to shift course and welcome the Dailai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader to Washington.
For much of President Barack Obama's first year in office, his administration tried being accommodating, but the White House is now shifting its strategy on China.
Next week, Obama will welcome the Dalai Lama to the White House, a move that has agitated relations with the emerging superpower, Politico reports.
But Obama has done more: Selling weapons to Taiwan, denouncing Internet censorship and challenging China's overvalued currency all have caused Chinese officials to call for retaliation.
For much of Obama's first year in office, his administration tried being accommodating - and took political heat for seeming to defer to China.
The president delayed meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader ahead of a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao. The White House played down its concerns about China's monetary policy. It elevated China as a key partner on curbing climate change and weapons proliferation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even put human rights on the back burner, saying it couldn't interfere with work on other global crises.
"The Obama administration came in with unrealistic expectations," said John Delury, associate director of the Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations.
"All of this effort for collaboration wasn't reaping much of a harvest. ... This relationship wasn't ready to go to new heights."
Now the White House is compensating for that "tactical mistake," said Michael Green, an Asia expert and former aide to President George W. Bush.
Meanwhile, the Chinese are fuming, threatening to ban US firms, withhold international cooperation and dump US Treasury bonds. (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
