In its grand tradition of insisting to whoever'll listen at any given time that Tibet's a bunch of buttholes and should stop wanting stuff and go back to giving them yak butter and free massages, China has whined to Japan about - of all the indignities - the Dalai Lama stopping in Japan, on the way to the U.S., for almost twenty-four hours. Can you believe that? Young Lamas these days, with their Nobel Peace Prizes and their vague plans to maybe hold a news conference or get some lunch on Japanese soil, right next to their rightful jerkface usurpers!

Meanwhile, wackiness ensues as Japan responds to demands that they form a strong opinion on something:

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, asked on Tuesday by reporters to comment on the planned stopover, gave a measured response.

"The Dalai Lama has visited Japan many times in the past and each time we have dealt with the situation appropriately," he said. "We'll continue to do so from now on as well."

Japan's relations with China the past hundred years have been about as sturdy and dependable as a Chihuahua with the runs, so the Prime Minister, in response to China's insistence that they'll hate Japan's guts forever and ever for "harboring" the Lama, was that it's probably good to think before they say, y'know, anything about the situation, by which time the big guy will be safely out of the country. Ah, diplomacy, how I love thee!