Asian and Greek character cutting through metal (7)
I believe the answer is:
tibetan
'asian' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'greek character cutting through metal' is the wordplay.
'greek character' becomes 'beta' (letter from the Greek alphabet).
'cutting through' is an insertion indicator.
'metal' becomes 'tin' (tin is a kind of metal**).
'beta' inserted into 'tin' is 'TIBETAN'.
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for tibetan that I've seen before include "Nationality of citizen of Lhasa, before Chinese invasion" , "From Lhasa, perhaps" , "mountain man, say" , "Himalayan language" , "native of Lhasa, say?" .)