China is NOT our pal

[SamIam]

In recent days China has been upset over US sales of arms to Taiwan. Taiwan is only being prudent given their close location to expansionist communist China. China has severely restricted use of the Internet. No freedom of speech for mainland Chinese. Now China seeks to prevent Obama from meeting with the Dali Lama.

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China warned U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday that a meeting between him and the Dalai Lama would further erode ties between the two powers, already troubled by Washington's arms sales to Taiwan.

The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Obama would meet the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader reviled by Beijing as a separatist for seeking self-rule for his mountain homeland.

China's angry response reflected deepening tension between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies, with Beijing noting that President Hu Jintao himself urged Obama not to meet the exiled Tibetan leader.

As a trading partner, China is falling down in more way than one. All is for the Chinese, and Western partners are getting table scraps. Obama told senators from his Democratic Party on Wednesday it was important to address currency rates with trading partners such as China to ensure U.S. goods were not facing a disadvantage by being artificially inflated.

"The approach that we're taking is to try to get much tougher about enforcement of existing rules, putting constant pressure on China and other countries to open up their markets in reciprocal ways," he said.

U.S. manufacturers have complained for years that Beijing's currency policies gives Chinese companies an unfair price advantage in international trade. However, China has resisted pressure on the issue and maintains its exchange rate policy is an internal matter.