Co-blogger Jason yesterday argued that now is probably not the best time to take a moral stand by welcoming the Dalai Lama, ostensibly because it will once more ‘offend’ China.

Well, I respectfully disagree and would argue that the entire global community has always gone out of its way to avoid the scorn of Beijing. As a consequence, the Chinese have become extremely adept in merging political and economic issues to their advantage and much to the disadvantage of say Tibet, Taiwan and Chinese dissidents. Photos such as the one on top of this post have become rarities as a result.

Former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten was one of the few who dared to confront the Chinese leadership and for that was vilified by not only the Chinese but by many British politicians and business leaders as well. But argued Patten, there is no correlation between bending to Beijing and benefiting economically. Any form of kowtow in order to remain on speaking terms with China is likely to earn less respect from the Chinese in the long run, unnecessarily undermining the West’s position. So, every effort should be made to force China to live up to and accept certain codes of conduct and mutual respect, not to mention international agreements dealing with human rights. Rolling out the red carpet for the Dalai Lama is an important part of that and if that causes some aggravation in Zhongnanhai, well so be it.