China protested Thursday in an uncharacteristically mild manner a private meeting between Polish President Lech Kaczynski and the Dalai Lama that took place in Warsaw yesterday, reported Deutsche Press – Agentur.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told journalists at his regular press conference that Beijing had contacted the Polish government over the meeting. Liu Jianchao said Warsaw should respect China’s fundamental interests and not create impediments to Chinese-Polish relations.
Liu’s statement fell significantly short of Beijing’s earlier reactions to international contacts involving the Tibetan spiritual leader, the report by DPA said.
France had been accused of ‘violating the feelings of the Chinese people’ and the French ambassador to China was summoned by Beijing following a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama last Saturday.
China also cancelled the China-EU Summit saying Sarkozy’s decision “deprived the EU-China summit of the required good atmosphere and made it impossible for it to obtain the anticipated result.”
Sarkozy met His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the Polish city of Gdansk during celebrations that marked the 25th anniversary of Nobel Peace Prize being conferred on former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.
