BERLIN, January 21: After months of tension between Beijing and Berlin, a Chinese minister has said German Chancellor Angela Merkel is welcome in the Chinese capital, Handelsblatt daily will report in its Monday edition.
Merkel is “welcome in Beijing at any time, also for the Olympic Games,” Science and Technology Minister Wang Gang told the business newspaper in an interview.
China was interested in extending “dialogue with Germany on all levels”, the minister added.
Ties between China and Germany chilled to freezing point after Merkel in September became the first German leader to receive the Dalai Lama in the chancellery.
Her meeting with the exiled Tibetan leader prompted China, which is hosting the Olympic Games from August, to axe a series of bilateral meetings and cultural events.
The row raised fears that the West’s efforts to reach agreement with China on how to handle the Iranian nuclear crisis could be further complicated.
Der Spiegel news magazine reports in its latest edition that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi have worked hard behind the scenes to salvage relations between the two countries.
It said Yang was expected in Berlin Tuesday for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. They will discuss imposing further sanctions on Iran for failing to halt sensitive nuclear work.
Merkel said last week that she had no regrets about her historic meeting with the Dalai Lama, who has been branded a dangerous separatist by Beijing.
“I think that friendly relations can withstand differences of opinion,” Merkel told reporters.
