NUREMBURG, Germany, May 18 – As the Dalai Lama continued his five-day tour of Germany on Sunday, Kurt Beck, leader of the country’s Social Democratic Party criticized a federal cabinet member’s decision to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Beck was quoted by the newspaper Welt Am Sonntag that government leaders in Berlin were given no warning that Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul had made plans to meet with the Dalai Lama on Monday in the capital.
After the meeting was scheduled, Beck said there was no way “to call if off.”
On Friday, China filed a formal complaint about a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the development minister, arguing that it violated Germany’s commitment to the “one-China” policy. Merkel’s spokesman said on Friday that the Dalai Lama is a religious leader, not a state official, and that the meeting did not represent a break from Germany’s policy toward China.
The Dalai Lama will not, however, meet with the foreign minister or with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a state visit to Latin America.
The Dalai Lama told a sold-out crowd of 7,000 in Nuremberg Sunday that religious tolerance is an imperative and said it was tragic that religious differences often lead to bloodshed.
“We need all the different religions to serve the people, because the people are different and have different goals,” he said during his appearance at Nuremberg Arena in southern Germany.
Before the Dalai Lama spoke, Wolfgang Grader, leader of the Tibet Initiative Deutschland, called for more support for Tibetans. Grader said that Tibetans face more persecution now than in decades. He said some 5,000 Tibetans are in prison, most of them unjustly.
Germany’s human rights commissioner, Guenter Nooke, also addressed the crowd and renewed calls for negotiations between the Chinese government and Tibetan leaders over the administration of Tibet. Nooke said such negotiations could be organized through “diplomatic skill and public pressure.”
The Dalai Lama was scheduled to give a similar speech later in the city of Bamberg and will speak Monday at a rally in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate after meeting with German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zuel.
He arrived in Germany last Thursday for a five-day visit of speaking engagements and has met with leaders from some of Germany’s 16 states, but not Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier or German President Horst Koehler.
