China has told President Obama that he should forgo a meeting today with the Dalai Lama, saying such a meeting with the spiritual leader would “impair” U.S.-China relations.

Hmmm. I think the president should ignore the Chinese.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/21/world/asia/china-us-dalai-lama/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

China has been subjugating the Tibetans for decades. The Dalai Lama represents Tibetans’ hopes for a free society. The People’s Republic believes the Dalai Lama is a “traitor” to the cause of whatever control the PRC wants to exert on the Tibetans.

Perhaps the president can remind the Chinese government that as the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, he is free to meet with whomever he wishes. And, perhaps, he can turn the tables on the Chinese despots by reminding them of their reaction to demands that they stop the repression Tibet and that they cease trying to bully Taiwan into coming back into the Chinese fold.

What do the Chinese say to these demands? These are internal matters and that the world should mind its own business. Never mind, of course, that Taiwan has flourished as an independent nation since its government were chased off the mainland by communists who fought with Nationalist forces in a bloody civil war.

Have your meeting with the Dalai Lama, Mr. President.