Chinageeks Opines on Certain Exiled Religious Leaders

2010-02-16

Ah, one of my favorite topics: myth-busting assumptions of foreigners about certain Western China territories and their religious leader-in-exile. I like to call him the DL — I'm not afraid of key word blocking of this post (perish the thought), I just like abbreviations.

Anyway, I've said on numerous occasions how full of shit many Westerners are about the DL and his country. I'm originally from LA, where many folks like Richard Gere reside. These people may not know much about China or the beliefs held by the DL, but they are drawn nevertheless of the sheer romanticism of the whole thing. These are people who like to tell their friends about the fundraisers they attend and how "spiritual" (as opposed to religious) they've become. They also get excited when they have their picture taken with Fidel Castro.

Anyway, Charlie Custer's commentary on a Foriegn Policy article on the subject is well worth the time. I would heartily recommend it to all of my vapid LA friends in the entertainment industry. I don't think they read FP too often, though.

This also provides me with another excuse to comment on the most recent dustup between the U.S. and China over a proposed meeting between Obama and the DL. Yes, it's all rather tedious and boring — been there, done that many, many times.

And I've written my opinion on the subject many, many times over the past few years. But I just can't help myself.

To be brief: I understand why a U.S. president might want to poke his finger in China's eye by meeting with the exiled religious leader of a very small territory/nation with a longstanding political dispute with China — at the height of the Cold War.

However, there is zero, I repeat — zero, justification for such a meeting now. No one has ever been able to convince me what the U.S. national interest is in having the president meet with the DL and piss off Beijing.

What you usually hear is that the meeting is symbolic of U.S. support for certain political causes across the globe. Hmm. That would be a lot more persuasive if the U.S. actually supported more of those causes globally and assisted poor, repressed minorities in other countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia).

But of course it doesn't. The rationale is bogus. If not for the history of the Cold War and the traditions it instilled in the American government, the U.S president would not deem it worth his time to meet with the DL at all.

OK. Stay tuned until the next meeting. I'll post the same opinion again.

Timely Update: Speaking of uninformed romanticism, an Op/Ed in the Washington Post notes that since Obama has agreed to meet with the DL:

[I]t is important that he be welcomed not only as a moral and religious leader respected throughout the world but also as a fellow democrat who shares America's deepest values.

Let's see. Wishful thinking? Bullshit fantasy? Deliberate misstatement? (take your pick)

Tags: China News, U.S.-China Relations