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Chinese Embassy in Germany Slams
Dalai Lama Meetings
BERLIN, May 30 (AFP) -
China's embassy in Berlin blasted top German officials
for meeting with the visiting Dalai Lama Friday,
calling the talks a flagrant contradiction of its "One-China"
policy.
After the Tibetan spiritual leader held brief talks
with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and
parliamentary speaker Wolfgang Thierse, the embassy
fired off an angry statement:
"We are firmly oppposed (to the meetings) and express
herewith our deepest displeasure," it said.
"Tibet is part of Chinese territory and issues related
to Tibet are exclusively an internal Chinese matter.
No one abroad has the right to interfere."
The embassy said the Dalai Lama was "not a normal
religious person but rather a political figure who
under the cover of religion pursues separatist
activities."
"The meeting of German politicians with the Dalai Lama
contradicts the One-China policy of the federal
government, hurts the feelings of the Chinese people
(and) has a negative impact on the existing good
relations between China and Germany.
"We hope very much that the government will continue
to stand by its One-China policy and refrain from
anything that runs counter to this policy."
Fischer had reaffirmed Germany's "One-China" policy
during the meeting with the Dalai Lama, saying that
Tibet is part of the People's Republic, a spokesman
said earlier Friday.
"The German government considers, like its European
Union partners, that Tibet is part of the state of
China," foreign ministry spokesman Walter Lindner said.
He said however that Fischer had assured the Dalai
Lama that Germany supported "Tibetan demands for
religious and cultural autonomy."
The Dalai Lama and his followers fled Tibet in 1959
after a failed uprising against Chinese rule and set
up base in Dharamsala, a hill station in the northern
Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize three decades later for
his non-violent opposition to Beijing's presence in
Tibet.
He is now seeking Tibetan autonomy within China rather
than independence and has been publicly supportive of
re-engaging with Beijing.
China, which has occupied Tibet since 1951, has been
accused of trying to wipe out Tibet's Buddhist-based
culture through political and religious repression and
a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration.
The Dalai Lama is in Berlin to take part in an
ecumenical festival bringing together Germany's
Protestant and Catholic Churches for the first time.
China is Germany's most important export market.
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