Obama still plans to meet Dalai Lama, despite China's concerns

“Zhu Weiqun, a Communist Party official who manages Tibet affairs, told reporters in Beijing today that a meeting would ‘seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-U.S. relations’ and ‘threaten trust and cooperation.’ While Zhu’s comments mirror oft-repeated warnings, tension between the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 economies has risen in recent weeks over censorship of Google Inc., climate change and arms sales to Taiwan. Additional strains may hamper global efforts to contain the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs and make China less willing to cooperate on financial matters, such as mitigating the effects of the global credit crisis. “