Posted on 09/15/2007 11:14:40 AM PDT by Michael81Dus
BERLIN (AFP) China has summoned Germany's ambassador in Beijing to discuss Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to grant the Dalai Lama an unprecedented meeting this month, the German foreign ministry said Friday.
A spokesman confirmed a report due to appear in Monday's edition of the Handelsblatt business daily that ambassador Michael Schaefer has been called to a meeting with Chinese authorities.
The German government's chief spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, announced earlier on Friday that Merkel will receive Tibet's exiled spiritual leader at the chancellery in Berlin on September 23.
It will mark the first time that the Dalai Lama has been received there, he told reporters.
Asked if the visit would offend China, which Merkel visited in August, Wilhelm had said Beijing was aware of Berlin's position on Tibet.
"Human rights issues related to Tibet is an issue that we always bring up with the Chinese side, especially during the bilateral German-Chinese human rights dialogue but also in the EU-China human rights talks," he said.
The Handelsblatt report also states that China has repeatedly pressed Germany to refuse the Dalai Lama permission to enter the country, but that Berlin has rejected the demand.
The Dalai Lama, whose worldly name is Tenzin Gyatso, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent campaign against Chinese rule in Tibet.
He makes frequent visits to Europe to promote the cause of Tibet, but in recent years has backed off from pushing for Tibetan independence, campaigning instead for the Himalayan region to have "genuine autonomy".
FREE TIBET! RECOGNITION FOR TAIWAN!
Vell....du canst put ein zock in it Herr Tsu!
Gunga gungagalunga.
Germany’s revenge for China hacking Germany’s government computers?
Dalai Lama is liberal in my sense. I’ve heard he gave up independence and is stronly against war for independence. I want a more tough guy for Tibet.
“So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald...striking. So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one—big hitter, the Lama—long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? ‘Gunga galunga...gunga, gunga-galunga.’ So we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, ‘Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.’ And he says, ‘Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”
—Carl Spackler, “Caddyshack”
So what “Caddyshack” fans want to know is...did the Lama make Chancellor Merkel The Promise also?
The Dalai Lama is a religious figure, and he´s definitely also a political symbol.
That’s not what I was talking about.
The murderers in Beijing just hate it when anyone brings attention to what they’ve done. Apparently Merkel doesn’t think Germany needs permission from China.
I told you Sassy has the right ideas about China!
I hope Merkel tells China that they can “pound sand.”
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