Eventually granted a White House meeting with Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama chided China for its "childish" and "limited" approach to Tibetan efforts for greater rights within China yesterday.
But the real story behind the much delayed meeting, were the shameful lengths the Obama Administration went to avoid 'offending' China, America's main banker.
Lets stand back for a moment and reflect on the media's coverage of the event. The focus was universally on the fabricated and carefully calibrated, 'anger' emanating from the one party, deeply authoritarian state.
Whats really going on is that Tibet is getting crushed in the middle of a bust up over America's $6.4 billion arms deal with the world's top twenty economies - Taiwan.
Tibet's three million people can use only have the bar of international opinion to protect themselves. But Taiwan, also on China's hit list and without a global ambassador of the stature of the Dalai Lama, has a fat check book to wave around instead.
At a time when the Obama Administration is flat on its back financially, it was able to face down Chinese anger of the Taiwanese arms sale but played defense over Tibet.
This is a big disappointment for the international community's hope for democracy and human rights. What mattered in the end to the Obama Administration, was getting six billion in the bank, not the fate of the imprisoned and bullied Tibetan people.
By hustling the exiled Tibetan leader out of the building without a public appearance of the two men side by side, the Obama Administration sent a depressing signal of its willingness to bend in the face of Chinese diplomatic bullying.
The delayed meeting with the Dalai Lama was downgraded to a private chat in the White House 'map room'. Tea was served, but only it seems to the Dalai Lama, who was given a biscuit on a napkin. Despite the "Three Cups of Tea" advice that American diplomats must now swallow, Obama apparently did not have a cuppa with His Holiness. Perhaps it was another subte signal to the Chinese?
There was no joint press conference after their meeting, not even a traditional 'spray' of questions and answers by a small group of media and photographers.
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No tea parties with Splitists.... Note that Obama is not having a cuppa... only the Dalai Lama has a cup of tea (and biscuit) in this official handout photo.
The Obama administration has been on tenterhooks over the meeting, reflecting the President's policy of accommodation with Beijing, which is troubling for many human rights activists.
China's reaction was carefully parsed for signs that the relationship with the US was entering a period of crisis, but that does not seem the case even though the Ambassador Jon Huntsman was called in in Beijing which "lodged solemn representations" of concern.
In fact, China appears to have secured it aim of preventing a publicity boost for Obama's fellow Nobel peace prize winner whom it brands as a "splittist".
The meeting took place in the White House's Map Room, where private talks take place and Obama made no public comments afterwards. There was now fanfare for the Tibetan leader as he arrived at the White House and only a single official photo was issued of the two leaders sitting down to tea.
While a large crowd of supporters wept, prostrated themselves and chanted "Thank you, Obama" and "Long live the Dalai Lama," in front of his hotel, the exiled Tibetan leader was hardly given the full embrace that his progressive supporters might have expected.
The Dalai Lama told reporters afterwards that he expected a negative, scolding Chinese reaction to his meeting with Obama.
But he says he is not frustrated that there has been so little progress on Tibetans' demands for greater autonomy.
He says that Tibetans will never give up on their cause, even if progress comes after his lifetime.
On Friday the Tibetan leader will get a more generous reception when he is awarded a Congressional medal.
Obama's meeting did not deviate much from those of past presidents. Since 1991, every U.S. president has met with the Dalai Lama in an informal capacity. While the Dalai Lama has never been received as a formal head of state, the Chinese government still reacted angrily to every meeting. In 2007, President George. W. Bush's high-profile appearance at the Congressional Medal of Freedom ceremony honoring the Dalai Lama solicited a particularly harsh response from Beijing. It was the first instance in which a U.S. president met with the Dalai Lama in a public setting.
Read the censored Tibetan blogger Woeser "I am the master of my own fate"
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