China Fumes Over Obama-Dalai Lama Meeting

China is fuming as expected after yesterday’s meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama. “The US action seriously interfered in Chinese internal affairs, seriously hurt the feelings of China's people and seriously harmed China-US relations,” a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement. What’s more, the meeting “grossly violated basic norms of international relations.”

Though China is talking tough, it has not disclosed what, if any, actions it will take in retribution for the slight. Some China watchers think that the government’s strong words are intended only to send a message to its citizens, AFP reports, and that it has no intention of rocking the boat of Sino-US relations. Case in point: A US aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong yesterday, though China had threatened to cut off military ties with the US after the Taiwan weapons flap. (More President Obama stories.)