Tibetan and U.S. flags are waving everywhere in Dharamsala--and Beijing’s suspicions about the U.S. are just as obvious. The reasons for such distrust include a secret CIA operation in the Himalayas that brought American military support to anti-Chinese Tibetan rebels half a century ago. The effort ended tragically for Tibetans.

Such a bloodstained and shadowy history helps explain why this sleepy Indian hill station was a-twitter Friday. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, came to town to call on the Dalai Lama, whose government-in-exile is based here. (The trip was scheduled before the Lhasa riots broke out March 10).

International reaction is much more pivotal now than it was in 1989, the last time PLA troops forcibly suppressed large numbers of Lhasa residents. If the global chorus of criticism grows, so will calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games due to be held Aug. 8-24-- something Beijing officials are desparate to prevent.