China said a possible meeting between US President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama would further harm Sino-US relations, and vowed to go ahead with unspecified sanctions against US firms selling arms to Taiwan. China has become increasingly vocal in opposing meetings between the Dalai Lama and foreign leaders, and one between the exiled Tibetan leader and Obama would increase tensions between the world's biggest and third biggest economies. Ties between the United States and China have also soured over trade and currency quarrels, control of the Internet, and Beijing's jailing of dissidents. There has been widespread speculation that Obama will meet the Dalai Lama as early as this month, when the Tibetan figurehead visits the United States. The White House has not publicly confirmed any such meeting. Zhu Weiqun, a Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of China's ruling Communist Party, said his government would vehemently oppose any meeting between Obama and the Tibetan Buddhist monk, who Beijing deems a dangerous separatist. “If that comes to pass, then China will be strongly opposed as always,” Zhu, who's department steers Party policy over ethnic issues, said of the possible meeting. “If the US leader chooses this time to meet the Dalai Lama, that would damage trust and cooperation between our two countries, and how would that help the United States surmount the current economic crisis?” said Zhu. Obama's predecessor George W. Bush has also met the Dalai Lama.
