Blind lawyer's escape to overshadow US-China talks

With the Iraq war over and combat operations in Afghanistan ending over the next couple of years, Obama has recalibrated U.S. focus on Asia and its booming markets such as China, India and Indonesia. More than half of the world's population lives in Asia, which is seen as the future center of the world economy.

Previous rounds of the U.S.-China dialogue have been hailed as productive and have included new educational and scientific exchanges. But they haven't resolved points of contention over Taiwan, Tibet and human rights.

U.S. arms sales to Taiwan particularly rankle China, and the irritation could grow worse with the emergence of the White House letter.

China has 2,300 operational combat aircraft, against only 490 for Taiwan. In September, the U.S. turned down a Taiwanese request for 66 relatively advanced F-16 jet fighters, while agreeing to help Taiwan upgrade its existing F-16 fleet. Critics accused the White House of yielding to pressure from China.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Despite improving relations over the past four years, China still threatens to attack across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait if the democratic island seeks to declare independence.