It’s not surprising that China would warn President Obama against meeting with the Dalai Lama later this month, but the way Beijing warned/chastised Obama did come across as strange:

“He is a black president, and he understands the slavery abolition movement and Lincoln’s major significance for that movement,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

Qin pointed out the Chinese government had abolished slavery, which was widespread in Tibet during the regime of the Dalai Lama, in 1959. Obama should also realize that the Dalai Lama was trying to split China and was a serious challenge to its national unity.

“Lincoln played an incomparable role in protecting the national unity and territorial integrity of the United States,” Qin said while referring to Obama’s admiration for Lincoln. China’s stance on the issue is similar to that of Lincoln, he said.

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