Obama-Lama Rama!

When US President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama last week, I was expecting a backlash similar to the anti-French protests during the Olympic torch relay in 2008. I was expecting a call to boycott US goods, US businesses being vandalized and US made products such as cars destroyed. While I’m thankful I didn’t have to hide in my panic room and that cooler heads prevailed, the fact remains that US-China relations were still damaged by the meeting.

There are those in China who are very upset about the meeting and do not understand why President Obama would even think about meeting the Dalai Lama. To many Chinese, the Dalai Lama is not a spiritual leader as the U.S State Department describes him, but a terrorist, whose only goal is to make the Tibet Autonomous Region truly live up to its name. This is what Chinese have learned for decades in school and in society. He is the source of any trouble, unhappiness, and chaos that happens in the region.

It is hard for one to argue that this view is anything but dogma within China. This mentality is not unique to China however. The US obviously has its public enemy #1 not in the Dalai Lama, but in Osama Bin Laden. The difference however is while Bin Laden is a common enemy to most of the global community, including China. The Dalai Lama is anything but an enemy to most of the world. This is not to say that China is wrong in its views. On the contrary. Just because the majority of people believe something does not necessarily make them right. However, the fact that they do not see the Dalai Lama as China does, can least begin to allow us to see why other countries meet with the Dalai Lama despite his status within China.

One thing any rational person can agree on, no matter what their views or where they are from, is that there are always two sides to a story. However, in China, everything a typical Chinese person knows about the Dalai Lama comes from one official source. One side of the coin. In America, it is almost the same. Everything a typical American knows about Bin Laden is most likely coming not only from blatant examples such as terrorist attacks, but reinforced by the official dogma found in society.

Often however, these views are over simplistic. Rarely are conflicts as simple as, “We are good, they are bad.” Both sides have motives and goals. In the US, there is very little desire from the general public find out more information to better understand the terrorist’s side. In fact, incentives to not learn more about the other side far outweighs the benefits of learning more about it. Not only is it uncomfortable in the US to borrow a book or search online for more information on terrorism, but there is also an additional fear to be visited by the feds about why you are looking at such materials in the first place.

In China, it is almost the same. But in addition to the discomfort and the fear of being questioned, the biggest difference is censored information. You will never find a book of the Dalai Lama’s views in his own words in a Chinese library. Online is no better. The result of this for the everyday person living in China is a lack of perspective and understanding about the Dalai Lama issue. Here, there is only the one side and the Dalai Lama’s side told through the eyes of those against him. All on one side of the coin.

Again, this is not to say, the popular, official view is wrong. But the fact remains, those living abroad can see both the Chinese and Dalai Lama’s views straight from the camel’s (or Lama’s) mouth. And that is, what I believe the Obama-Dalai Lama meeting comes down to. Perspective.

When there is a dispute, a mediator won’t ask one side what happened, and then ask the same side what the other person’s view is. Instead, the mediator will learn from both people and then come to his own conclusion about the situation. This is what Obama is doing by going forward with the meeting. He knows the Chinese perspective, but also wants to hear the other side, not from China but from the mouths of those actually on the other side. And why not? It is only through knowledge, not ignorance that we can best deal with the problems we face.