Chinese diplomat criticizes German politicians' planning to meet Dalai Lama during visit

The Associated Press

Published: May 16, 2008

BERLIN : A Chinese diplomat on Friday criticized some German politicians' decision to meet with the Dalai Lama during his five-day visit to the country.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said China also had formally protested a minister's planned meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

When Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama at her office in September, it caused a temporary chill in Chinese-German relations.

This time, Merkel is in Latin America and will not meet with the Dalai Lama, who is in Germany to give a series of lectures.

Germany's foreign minister and president also plan no meeting with him.

But Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul is scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama on Monday, and already he has met with two state governors from Merkel's conservative party and the president of Germany's parliament.

Zhang Junhui, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, said on ARD television that German officials should not be giving the Dalai Lama an official reception, saying it went against Germany's "one-China policy."

"We are decidedly against any official reception for the Dalai Lama in Germany, because we are of the opinion that the Dalai, despite his statements denying independence as a goal, is committed to the independence of Tibet," Zhang said.

Peschke said the Chinese Embassy had made a formal diplomatic representation to Germany's Foreign Ministry along similar lines.

Upon his arrival Thursday, the Dalai Lama criticized China's "suppression" of unrest in Tibet but insisted that the region wants only genuine autonomy and peace with  Beijing.

"We are not seeking independence," he said.

Zhang said China is urging the German government not to pay attention to "what the Dalai Lama says, but what he does."

He said the Chinese government would be talking with Germany about the visit.

"We urge the German government to strictly stick to its one-China policy, so that the stable development of our bilateral relations remains possible," he said.

China — which claims Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries — routinely protests meetings between foreign governments and the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959, eight years after Chinese troops occupied  Tibet.

Protests against Chinese rule began in March in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Events turned violent four days later, touching off demonstrations by Tibetans and their supporters in three neighboring provinces — and around the world.