China attacks EU position on Tibet crackdown
China is "strongly dissatisfied" with the European Union following a discussion at a EU foreign ministers meeting over the weekend about the ongoing crackdown on Tibetan protesters by Chinese authorities.
"The Tibet issue is completely China's internal affairs. No foreign countries or international organizations have the right to interfere in it," the country's state news agency, Xinhua, quoted China's foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu as saying.
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The bloc's 27 foreign ministers, meeting in Brdo, Slovenia, issued a statement on Saturday (29 March) reiterating their "strong concern over the events in the autonomous Chinese region of Tibet."
The ministers criticised violence from both the Chinese authorities and protesters: "The EU condemns all violence and pays its respects to the victims.
"It calls for an end to the violence and asks that arrested persons be treated in conformity with international standards."
The EU ministers also called on China to open "substantive and constructive dialogue which addresses core issues such as the preservation of the Tibetan language, culture, religion and traditions," and requested that free press access by the press to Tibet be upheld.
Although Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have in recent days announced they will not be attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in protest at the crackdown, there was no mention of the Olympics in the foreign ministers' statement.
Despite the measured tones from the ministers, China sharply attacked Europe's stance.
"We strongly hope the EU and its member states to make a clear distinction between right and wrong, explicitly condemn the violent crimes of beating, smashing, looting and burning and all those offenders, and avoiding taking double standards," the spokesperson said.
The Chinese news agency further quotes Ms Jiang as saying: "The EU should not rub salt into the wounds of the innocent victims of the Lhasa riots on 14 March and send a wrong signal to the international community and the Dalai clique and encourage the Tibetan secessionists in their violent crimes."
The spokesperson did however say that China is willing to "continue contacts" with the Dalai Lama so long as he abandons "advocating Tibet independence", and his actions "aimed at splitting the motherland, especially activities to fan and mastermind violent crimes in Tibet and other regions and to sabotage the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games."
Although the common statement from foreign ministers made no mention of the Olympic games, outside the meeting, differences amongst the various member states on the issue were more apparent.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, was insistent that there was no call for a boycott of either the games or their opening ceremony. "I don't think we will have a boycott on our agenda," he said, according to Reuters.
"We are separating the issue of human rights dialogue, inter-cultural dialogue and so on from events like Olympic Games and participation in those," said Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
UK foreign minister David Miliband, whose country is to host the next Olympics, said to reporters: "We are fully engaged in supporting the Olympics. We want to see it as a success, and I think it's right that the prime minister represents us."
Sweden's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, agreed with his British counterpart, saying a full boycott of the games would not be effective.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will not be attending the opening ceremonies, but both have stressed this is in keeping with German protocol.
However, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner hinted at a disagreement around the table. "The German position and the British position are not the same," he said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week mooted a boycott of the opening ceremonies.
"No one was for the boycott, and as for a boycott of the opening ceremonies,'' said Mr Kouchner, according to French daily Liberation, "nobody wanted to talk about it."
"We didn't mention the games because they seem indispensable to us for the moment," he added, "but we're staying attentive to how the situation evolves."