Hu Jintao can’t be happy. Just as 2,200 Communist Party delegates gathered in Beijing to grant him another five years as Chinese president, the Dalai Lama grabbed the global spotlight.
Whether by coincidence or design, the U.S. Congress gave Tibet’s spiritual leader its highest civilian award the same week China hosted its National Congress. President George W. Bush defied Chinese protests to become the first sitting U.S. president to appear in public with the Dalai Lama. [Full Text]