Germany’s Example
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 20, 2008
Germany demonstrates to the world that morality and justice can still outweigh political and economic interests in framing governmental foreign policy. Here’s hoping that other countries follow Germany’s example.
From Phayul.com:
In a fresh blow to Berlin-Beijing relations, Germany has said it is freezing aid talks with the Chinese government as a result of China’s crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet.
Germany said it was suspending intergovernmental aid talks with China if the country did not end a bloody clampdown on Tibetan protestors, raising the stakes in a highly charged international conundrum over how to deal with Beijing’s rights violations months before the city hosts the Olympic Games.
German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said on Wednesday, March 19, that her ministry would suspend negotiations with the Chinese government which mainly involve grants to reduce air pollution by Chinese power plants. Explaining the decision, Wieczorek-Zeul said, “Violence can never be a solution. The two sides can only arrive at a solution through dialogue. Under such conditions, it is hardly conceivable to be conducting intergovernmental negotiations.”
On Wednesday, China stepped up its criticism of the Dalai Lama with Tibet’s Communist Party secretary, Zhang Qingli, telling a teleconference of regional officials: “We are engaged in a fierce battle of blood and fire with the Dalai clique, a life-and-death struggle between the foe and us.”The harsh rhetoric has raised hackles in the West where the Tibetan spiritual leader is usually welcomed by governments.
Germany’s human rights commissioner, Guenther Nooke said it had to be made clear to the Chinese government that it had no chance of getting away with such words.
“The language used by the Chinese government is unspeakable,” Nooke said in an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “The vocabulary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution is being used here again. That scares me. We shouldn’t allow a country like China to get away with it.”
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