Tibet’s Plight Must Be Remembered

Though China is predictably in a snit about it, President Clinton’s decision to meet today with the exiled Dalai Lama is a necessary reaffirmation of support for the aspirations of 6 million Tibetans living restively under Beijing’s oppressive rule. Indeed, it would be both a breach of courtesy and an act of political timidity if Clinton chose to ignore the presence of the Dalai Lama under his own roof.

The Tibetan leader, who along with tens of thousands of followers fled to India in 1959 after an abortive revolt against China’s rule, will be calling on Vice President Al Gore in his White House office, as he has in the past. Although Clinton will see the Dalai Lama in what is being described as a “drop-by meeting,” it will at least underscore U.S. concern about Tibet.

Protests by Beijing notwithstanding, the Dalai Lama’s visit to Washington is not unsettling U.S.-China relations. Gore visited China last month, Foreign Minister Qian Qichen is due in the United States this weekend, and an exchange of presidential visits is planned later this year. As always, human rights issues deserve to be high on the U.S. agenda. Clinton’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, however deliberately low-key, is a needed sign of recommitment to those issues.