From the Times of India:
China on Thursday invoked Abraham Lincoln’s anti-slavery philosophy to persuade US president Barack Obama from meeting the Dalai Lama… “He is a black president, and he understands the slavery abolition movement and Lincoln’s major significance for that movement,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
Qin pointed out the Chinese government had abolished slavery, which was widespread in Tibet during the regime of the Dalai Lama, in 1959. Obama should also realize that the Dalai Lama was trying to split China and was a serious challenge to its national unity.
“Lincoln played an incomparable role in protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the United States,” Qin said while referring to Obama’s admiration for Lincoln. China’s stance on the issue is similar to that of Lincoln, he said.
Read more about how Obama’s race is playing into Chinese perceptions of him, via The Hindu and the Washington Post.
