BERLIN (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set to hold a historic meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sunday despite strong protest from China, which has cancelled talks with German officials.
The German justice ministry said Chinese officials have called off a meeting with German counterparts on patent right protection that was scheduled to take place in Munich on Sunday for “technical reasons.”
The meeting would have been addressed by Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries and taken place just hours before Merkel is due to become the first German chancellor to receive Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.
The Chinese foreign ministry has also called in Germany’s ambassador to Beijing and warned Germany not to receive the venerated Buddhist authority, whom it denounced as a separatist seeking to undermine China.
But Berlin has resisted pressure to withdraw Merkel’s invitation.
Government spokesman Thomas Steg said the government was convinced that it would “not disturb the good state of German-Chinese relations and cooperation” just weeks after Merkel visited China.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung at the weekend spoke of “a crisis” between Beijing and Berlin and said Merkel had gone against the advice of senior officials in pursuing the meeting, which her office described as a “private exchange of ideas.”
The Dalai Lama, in an interview with the German newspaper, reiterated that he is not seeking independence for Tibet, which was occupied by Chinese soldiers in 1950, but autonomy.
“We do not want independence … but we should be granted a real form of autonomy.”
He said he was not angry at China’s stance over his meeting with Merkel but found it arrogant.
“It is simply China’s attitude. It is the arrogance of power,” he said.
“Wherever I go, China protests. The Chinese are simply testing how far they can go. Therefore I do not believe that my meeting with Mrs Merkel will have a lastingly negative impact on Chinese-German relations.”
He said he was “happy” about the invitation and impressed with Merkel, whom he has met before, but while she was still an opposition politician.
“What I appreciate about Mrs Merkel, is her steady engagement on human rights and religious freedom, as well as her commitment to the environment.
“Perhaps that is why she wants to see me, in spite of all the pressure from China,” he said.
The Dalai Lama has led a Tibetan government-in-exile in India since 1959.
He said China’s policy towards the Himalayan region would have to change.
“I believe that in the long run, international opinion will have a positive influence on the Chinese government.
“The more sensitive among the country’s political leaders realise that their image in the outside world depends strongly on how they treat Tibet.”
The Dalai Lama said he believed that he felt a special affinity with Merkel, as he had with the late Pope John Paul II, because both had lived under a communism regime.
Merkel is the first German chancellor to have grown up in communist East Germany.
The Dalai Lama was received by Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer last week, also amid protest from China.
He has held talks with several other political leaders including US President George W. Bush, with whom he has met three times.
China has bristled for years at his strong international following. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent approach to relations with China.
