Source: Obama pressured into arms sale

US envoys' visit called "explanation journey" to mend strained ties, renew bilateral relations

BEIJING - US President Barack Obama agreed to sell $6.4-billion worth of weapons to Taiwan and meet with the Dalai Lama under pressure from the US Congress, the two US envoys who wrapped up their visit on Thursday reportedly told Chinese officials, according to a source close to the US embassy in Beijing.

Beijing and Washington have released few details of the two-day visit by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Jeffrey Bader, the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, but the source told China Daily on Thursday that this was basically an "explanation journey."