Beijing objects to US-Taiwan deal, Dalai Lama meeting

Beijing has protested a planned multi-billion-dollar US arms sale to Taiwan, while the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed its disapproval of a potential meeting between US President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, state media reported. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said, "The US should see clearly the harm (of any such moves) and cancel the arms sale plan to Taiwan so as to avoid disturbing the overall situation." The intended arms deal would provide design assistance on diesel-electric submarines and 60 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and may grow to include PAC-3 missiles and an operations deal for a command and control program. Potential fallout from the intended meeting between the US president and the Tibetan spiritual leader could include a freeze on US-China military exchanges, said the head of a government think tank.