A Chinese official bizarrely claimed that Barack Obama should understand China’s opposition to Tibetan independence because he is a black president who understands Abraham Lincoln’s role in emancipating African Americans.

Obama should understand Chinese rule in Tibet ‘because he is black’, official says

Telegraph | Nov 12, 2009

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai

China insists that the Communist party liberated Tibetans from feudal serfdom under the Dalai Lama in 1959.

Qin Gang, the foreign ministry spokesman, said that since Mr Obama is a “black president”, the issue of slavery should resonate with him.

“He is a black president, and he understands the slavery abolition movement and Lincoln’s major significance for that movement,” said Mr Qin. “Lincoln played an incomparable role in protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the United States.”

China’s stance was like Lincoln’s, said Mr Qin.

“Thus on this issue we hope that President Obama, more than any other foreign leader, can better, more deeply grasp China’s stance on protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.

The comments from the foreign ministry came a few days before the American president is due to tour Shanghai and Beijing.

Mr Obama left America for his trip to Asia last night looking to deflect attention from falling popularity at home. A national Gallup opinion poll showed that if asked to vote in a congressional ballot today 48 per cent would choose Republican and 44 per cent Democrat.

The Chinese government is angling for Mr Obama to endorse China’s rule in Tibet publicly, and senior advisers to Mr Obama have admitted that the topic will be on the agenda during talks with Hu Jintao, the Chinese president.

Mr Obama avoided meeting the Dalai Lama when the exiled spiritual leader was in Washington in October, amid rumours that he was keen to avoid upsetting China. However, the Dalai Lama has said that they may meet after Mr Obama’s trip to China.

Pro-Tibetan independence groups immediately condemned the Foreign ministry for “failing a history test”.

Stephanie Brigden, the director of Free Tibet, said: “It is an insult for the unelected and authoritarian Chinese government to suggest that an instinctive democrat such as Abraham Lincoln would have sided with China in seeking to deny the Tibetan people their fundamental right to determine their own future.

“By trying to be clever, and attempting to liken its occupation of Tibet with Lincoln’s fight to abolish slavery while preserving the Union, China has merely underlined its inability to recognise what true freedom looks like.”

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