The situation in Tibet is grim. The Tibetan people are being denied basic human rights and I believe they deserve to be an autonomous state. Because of the upcoming Beijing Olympics, Tibet has received significant media attention in the recent weeks. Because of this attention, our presidential candidates have all come out and asked President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies. I think they all have it wrong.

The Chinese people put a huge amount of importance in "face", or lian. Lian represents "the confidence of society in the integrity of moral character." While it would seem one wants to "save face" no matter which culture one comes from, the Chinese put significantly more emphasis on this than we do in the West. It is ingrained in their psyche in a way that we, as Westerners, have a difficult time understanding. Having face is inextricably linked to high social status and personal dignity. The easiest way to lose face is for someone else to criticize you in public. If the President boycotts the opening ceremonies, he will be doing just this.

You may be asking yourself - who cares? The Tibetan people are experiencing horrible atrocities, why should we care if the Chinese Government is embarrassed? China is a global economic force right now and it is continuing to grow as a political power. The United States will have to deal with China whether we like it or not. Given this, isn't it in our best interests to forge the best relationship possible? The ideal relationship would be one of mutual respect of sovereignty and cooperation. It is only with this type of relationship that China will begin to listen to the West and its pleads for change in Tibet.

One can think of diplomacy as a continuous stream of negotiations between nation-states. If we look at our relationship with China from this perspective, then boycotting the opening ceremonies is a poor tactical move. Humiliating one's opponent rarely serves the greater good for either party. Instead, it tends to cause a mutual mistrust between parties and often results in a stalemate, with no progress whatsoever. President Kennedy said in his memoirs that one of the lessons he learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis was "Don't humiliate your opponent." If President Bush were to boycott the opening ceremonies, he would not only humiliate the Chinese Government and People, he would most certainly hinder Chinese-American relations for years to come.

The good news is that President Bush came out today and confirmed that he has not changed his plans and he will attend the opening ceremonies.

Finally, an issue where I can get behind our president!