Double Whammy

In just one weekend, Washington has turned the much fancied notion of building a ‘Group of Two’ with Beijing on its head. Washington’s punitive tariffs on Chinese tyre imports and Beijing’s threat to retaliate by targeting American exports of chicken and auto parts has triggered the talk of a ‘trade war’ between US and China.

Coming on top of Obama’s anticipated economic measure — he was under pressure from the trade unions — was his decision to send a close personal friend from Chicago and currently top adviser in the White House, Valerie Jarrett to meet with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala. Jarrett was accompanied by a senior state department official. This high level visit from Washington to Dharamshala appears to be part of Obama’s effort to revive the stalled dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama. Obama’s two predecessors, Presidents Bush and Clinton sought to nudge Beijing into cutting a deal with the Dalai Lama on Tibetan autonomy. Neither of them had much of an effect on China.

“We are firmly opposed to any foreign official meeting with the Dalai Lama,” Beijing said in a terse response on Tuesday. Beijing is also likely to launch a protest with Delhi for allowing top American officials to visit the Dalai Lama. The escalation of Sino-US tensions comes days before President Hu Jintao arrives in the United States for the summit of the G-20 nations in Pittsburgh and amidst plans for Obama’s visit to China in early November.

The Dalai Lama is expected to arrive in Washington in early October. It is not clear if Obama will see him before his visit to Beijing or after. All recent US presidents have met with the Dalai Lama in the White House.

... contd.