Kurt Beck, chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in
Germany's ruling coalition government, criticized German Chancellor
Angela Merkel on Sunday for her meeting with the Dalai Lama and
called for "engagement" with China.
Beck told local Frankfurter Allgemainen newspaper that
China is Germany's "strategic partner" that Germany can not afford
to lose.
"Those who think that the global pressing issues can be solved
without China and Russia, are wrong," said Beck.
Beck's criticism came after bilateral ties were seriously
affected by Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama in September.
Beck said Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama in the name of
"human rights," initiated by Roland Koch, the governor of the
central German state of Hesse, could merely benefit the local
elections there in January.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also accused
Merkel of "shop window politics" in her dealings with China and
Russia over the so-called human rights issues.
Eberhard Sandschneider, director of the German Council on
Foreign Relations, said Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama was "a
major mistake" and the hurt it caused to bilateral ties may take
some time to heal.
(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2007)
