As innocuous as it appears, it is evident that the picture, its positioning in the paper and the caption are intended as yet another dig at the Chinese, with whom Botswana has had a diplomatic tiff of sorts in the past three months over the Dalai Lama’s planned visit. It should be remembered that initially government prevaricated on whether the Dalai Lama would be granted a visa, preferring to point to the organisers of the conference as responsible for answers. As the tiff intensified, it appears a rift formed between the BGCIS and the Office of the President, when it became clear the latter preferred a harder public line in the matter, going so far as to state that visiting dignitary protocols would be extended to the spiritual leader.
That President Ian Khama himself was behind the harder stance became evident in an interview he granted the Botswana Guardian in which he said Botswana was not a Chinese colony and would not be dictated to. Khama and indeed Botswana, have generally received praise across the continent and beyond for its courage in standing up to Beijing, a country known for masking its own democratic deficiencies behind a ‘non-interference’ foreign affairs policy which essentially demands that other countries stand back and keep quiet.
