Obama meets the Dalai Lama in the Map Room of the White House. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

As expected, China has responded to President Barack Obama’s meeting with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, with anger and condemnation: The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador today to express its “strong dissatisfaction” with the meeting.

But as Peter Foster, writing in The Telegraph today, it’s that very predictability of the Chinese response that may mean that at the very least, Obama’s meeting hasn’t significantly derailed Sino-US relations: “International relations, like financial markets, don’t like volatility and, as far as was possible, this meeting was handled strictly within the expected diplomatic parameters. This is a welcome sign after the turbulence of recent months.”

Obama went ahead with the meeting, despite China’s warnings against it. American officials attempted to convince China that the meeting with the Dalai Lama was out of respect for his religious and cultural standing, as opposed to his political leadership, and was thus being conducted in the Map Room instead of the more official Oval Office. China, however, wasn’t mollified and remains, at least outwardly, infuriated, reported The Guardian.

Most observers believe that the two countries, which depend on each other for economic and political support, need to maintain stable relations in order to resolve global dilemmas, including climate change. While there is debate about which of the two countries is more in need of the other, with China being one of the US’ biggest creditors and the US being China’s biggest export market, their interdependency is not questioned.

Another point many observers seem to agree on is the need for the US to be consistent in its relationship with China. A Financial Times editorial yesterday said that the Obama administration is struggling with what stance to take against its Asian rival, having sent a series of mixed signals in recent months: After striking a more conciliatory tone last November, when Obama postponed his meeting with the Dalai Lama until after he’d visited China on a goodwill mission, America seemed to change its attitude toward China, adopting a more aggressive stance, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claiming that China severely restricts Internet freedom of its people and Obama approving a sweeping arms deal with Taiwan.

The editorial highlighted the need for the US to be coherent in its approach to China and suggested that the US should cooperate with China in areas of common interest, while openly voicing its differences on human right issues and Taiwan.

Writing in The Guardian yesterday, Lola Adesioye echoed international consensus about the importance of Sino-US relations and the need for consistency between them. “What the Dalai Lama’s visit has revealed,” she wrote, “is that the US needs to set a coherent and consistent approach to its relationship with China and continue to foster mutual understanding and co-operation especially when it comes to difficult bilateral issues. The world’s biggest powers can do better than acting like a dysfunctional couple with communication problems.”