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Obama to meet Dalai as US-Sino ties worsen
Ewen MacAskill and Tania Branigan, Washington/Beijing
The sudden deterioration in US-Chinese relations is set to accelerate after the White House confirmed on Friday that Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama in Washington later this month, ignoring stiff objections of Beijing.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not set a date, but the Dalai Lama’s secretary has said he will be in Washington on February 17 and 18.
Beijing claims Tibet is part of China, views the Dalai Lama as a troublemaker and has lobbied firmly against the visit.
Although other US presidents have met the Dalai Lama, China had hoped that Obama might adopt a different approach, given the enthusiasm with which he wooed Beijing last year.
The controversial visit comes on top of a series of rows over the last few weeks in which relations between the US and China have taken a turn for the worse.
Obama told US legislators on Wednesday that he will take a tougher line towards China over its huge US trade surplus.
Other grievances include the US plans to sell arms to Taiwan, the row with the leading search engine Google over alleged cyber attacks, and the US disappointment at China’s failure to support it over climate change at Copenhagen and on sanctions against Iran.
China specialists in Washington said on Friday that the Obama administration had always planned the Dalai Lama meeting and the arms sales to Taiwan.
Ewen MacAskill and Tania Branigan, Washington/Beijing
The sudden deterioration in US-Chinese relations is set to accelerate after the White House confirmed on Friday that Barack Obama will meet the Dalai Lama in Washington later this month, ignoring stiff objections of Beijing.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not set a date, but the Dalai Lama’s secretary has said he will be in Washington on February 17 and 18.
Beijing claims Tibet is part of China, views the Dalai Lama as a troublemaker and has lobbied firmly against the visit.
Although other US presidents have met the Dalai Lama, China had hoped that Obama might adopt a different approach, given the enthusiasm with which he wooed Beijing last year.
The controversial visit comes on top of a series of rows over the last few weeks in which relations between the US and China have taken a turn for the worse.
Obama told US legislators on Wednesday that he will take a tougher line towards China over its huge US trade surplus.
Other grievances include the US plans to sell arms to Taiwan, the row with the leading search engine Google over alleged cyber attacks, and the US disappointment at China’s failure to support it over climate change at Copenhagen and on sanctions against Iran.
China specialists in Washington said on Friday that the Obama administration had always planned the Dalai Lama meeting and the arms sales to Taiwan.