Minxin Pei Quoted in New York Times
article on Obama's Meeting with Dalai Lama

After President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama this weekend, tensions mounted between the U.S. and China. Strong words of criticism for the U.S. was published in the Global Times, a tabloid publication of the People's Daily, warning that the meeting would "undoubtedly negatively affect the development process of Sino-U.S. relations."
But in a New York Times article, Minxin Pei, the Tom and Margot Pritzker '72 Professor of Government and the director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, states that the Chinese protest is "unlikely to have any real consequences."
"As a matter of principle, China must make its displeasure known to the U.S., as it has done so for many years," Pei added. "But the Chinese are also very pragmatic and understand that this meeting is symbolic. So they will not want to harm the substantive Sino-American relationship because of this incident. They will not take any retaliatory measures." Read the full article here.