Beijing wants Obama to publicly oppose Tibetan independence

Beijing has proposed that President Barack Obama publicly acknowledge China’s sovereignty over Tibet and oppose its independence in exchange for military transparency and cooperation on non-proliferation, the South China Morning Post reported. Obama will visit China this month and diplomats are still negotiating details of the summit between Obama and President Hu Jintao. Chinese negotiators have suggested that Obama state that "Tibet is part of China’s territory and the US opposes Tibetan independence." Such a statement would give the US leverage to negotiate on other strategic issues more closely aligned to the US national interest, such as North Korea, they say. The US has not made any overt statement of support for Tibetan independence, so technically the statement would not mark any change in US policy, but the US does continue to criticize China for its human rights policies in the province.