Taiwan President-elect Tsai Ing-wen's diplomatic honeymoon with China could be short-lived if she allows the Dalai Lama to visit the self-ruled democratic island that Beijing claims as its own, two senior political sources said.
China regards Tibet's exiled spiritual leader as a separatist, and Ma Ying-jeou, the outgoing president who favours closer economic ties with the mainland, refused the Dalai Lama entry several times since his last visit to Taiwan in 2009.
On that occasion Ma did allow him in, although he did not meet the 80-year-old figure.