In this current global crisis, China, U.S. should cooperate

China's determination to get its way was illustrated by its decision to cancel a summit meeting with the European Union in December because of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to meet the exiled Tibetan leader.

One sign of China's success was the decision by South Africa to bar the Dalai Lama, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, from taking part in a peace conference. China knows it is unlikely that any country in Asia, Africa or Latin America will stand in its way. Its focus is on the West.

In March, the United States Congress, to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising, voted 422 to 1 to adopt a resolution calling on Beijing to end “repression” in Tibet. At the same time, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government.

China clearly feels the tide is turning. The successful Olympic Games last summer was a demonstration of the country's greatly enhanced soft power, while its dispatching of a naval task force to the Somali coast and of patrol vessels to the South China Sea are signs of its increasing hard power.

Beijing's demands for reform of the international financial system ahead of the G-20 meeting in London are another reflection of its new-found influence amid the global economic crisis, which it clearly sees as an opportunity.

Beijing is emphasizing that the Tibet issue is one that involves its core national interest.

It is warning all countries that, if they want good relations with China, then they must toe the line and accept the Chinese position that Tibet is a part of China and that the crushing of the Tibetan uprising 50 years ago was a move to liberate Tibet from feudalism.

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