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The Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier who is presently visiting China urged it on Friday, June 12, 2008, to convene further deliberations with the representatives of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama. The German foreign Minister and his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi also informed that both countries have conceded to resume regular meets on issues like climate change and human rights. This announcement indicates warming up of relationship between China and Germany.
After the German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in her Berlin chancellery the previous year, the relationship between China and Germany turned sour. Steinmeier mentioned in Beijing this time that he also discussed the Tibet issue with his Chinese counterpart. Tibet has been shut down to foreign media and tourists following an anti-government rioting in March. ‘We talked about the situation in Tibet. We expressed our wish that China meet with the Dalai Lama's envoy to promote culture in Tibet,’ stated Steinmeier.
After the German chancellor met Dalai Lama the previous year, China cancelled meeting with German officials a number of times. This caused the German trading community to protest as they could not lucrative contracts in China. China, on the other hand, allegedly holds Dalai Lama responsible for masterminding the entire uprising in Tibet in an attempt to separate Tibet from China and hamper the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But this charge has been refuted by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. China firmly holds that the region of Tibet belongs to it.
