The US risked inflaming a row on multiple fronts with China on Thursday, saying the Dalai Lama would visit the White House this month despite Beijing’s fierce protests.
But as tensions built over US President Barack Obama’s planned welcome for Tibet’s spiritual leader, officials sought to douse a running row with Beijing, saying the two sides had common interests despite mounting disagreements.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was pressed by reporters to name the date when the Dalai Lama would make his long-expected White House visit.
“He will be here later this month,” Gibbs said, but could not be more precise, adding that he did not know if the Dalai Lama would be granted the potent symbolism of an Oval Office visit with media availability.
US presidents have sometimes used a diplomatic tactic known as a “drop by” to see leaders or dignitaries likely to anger or embarrass key foreign powers, fitting in a visit in between scheduled talks between the visitor and another top official.
As China mounts fierce advance protests against the visit, Gibbs said Obama had informed Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) when they met in Beijing in November that he would go ahead with the meeting.
Obama had declined to meet the Dalai Lama, who was in the US late last year, before going to China, in an apparent bid to get his ties with Beijing off on the right foot.
The Chinese government on Wednesday said it “resolutely opposes” the Dalai Lama’s visit to the US his meeting any US leaders.
“We urge the US side to clearly recognize the high sensitivity of the Tibet issue and handle related issues carefully and appropriately to avoid causing more harm to Sino-US ties,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said.
The Dalai Lama will visit Washington starting on Feb. 17, according to his office in India where the monk fled into exile in 1959.
The Dalai Lama said he was seeking greater rights for Tibetans under Chinese rule, but Beijing accuses him of separatism.
The US says it regards Tibet as part of China, but accuses Beijing of serious human rights abuses in the region.
Gibbs also sought to downplay the current back-and-forth between Beijing and Washington, adding that all the issues being aired publicly had been talked over in private between the two sides.
“There will be issues that we will disagree on, and we will disagree on them both in private and in public,” Gibbs said. “We envision this relationship as one where we can work together on issues of mutual concern. We’ve worked together on stabilizing the world economy. We’ve worked together on issues of proliferation, particularly around North Korea.”
David Shear, a State Department official who works on China, said the US would “regret” such reprisals, but noted that Beijing had not yet followed through on its threats.
“The Chinese reaction has been within expected parameters,” Shear said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS