Tibet in US-China Relation

Kudos to President Barrack Obama for mentioning Tibet in his welcoming speech during State Dinner in honor of visiting Chinese President Hu. While it is of paramount importance for President Obama to walk a fine line engagning China in global economy and at the same time reminding them of US core value of fundamental human rights, dignity and freedom the world over. President Obama acknowledged in his speech the unprecedented growth of Chinese economy and its reciprocal contribution to US and global economy, however, he also warned that China must make a sincere effort improve the human rights situation in China and to respect the religion and culture of Tibetan people in Tibet . He also said that China must talk to representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to address Tibetan issues. While Chinese leadership have always treated Tibet as non-issue and always avoided mentioning Tibet, however they know that Tibet is their biggest challenge as they go about improving their image in the world. Therefore, it is in the China's vital interest that they sincerely and seriously engage Dalai lama in resolving the Tibet issue. Longer they wait to deal with it, lesser  the chance for them to make real impact in their effort to improve the image as an emerging power in the world.