2008-04-13 06:44:05 - Merkel, Lammert advocates China to hold talks with HH Dalai Lama so as to keep human rights preserve and Sino-Tibet talks for the betterment of Tibtean and preserve their culture heritage.

During Merkel a day visit to Oslo capital Norway, German Chancellor has categorcally said in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, in an interview she said, 'I will however definitely meet the Dalai Lama again at a later point in time.' the chancellor added, 'My reception of the Dalai Lama and China's behavior toward him are two separate issues. 'But they

both involve how we deal with the observance or breach of human rights, and Germany's stance on this is clear. Receiving the Dalai Lama is part of that.'Merkel, however, ruled out a boycott of this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, saying she favors dialogue with the Chinese government over its human-rights record and talks with the Dalai Lama on Tibet, and added that boycotts achieved nothing.



'The Olympic Games offer China the chance to present itself better to the world as well as giving the world an opportunity to know the country better,' Merkel said. 'The boycott of the Olympic Games in 1980 in the end did nothing except lead to a counter-boycott in 1984.'

The news magazine Der Spiegel said Saturday tension was growing over plans for him to meet the speaker of the lower house of the German parliament, Norbert Lammert, a Christian Democrat like Merkel.

Lammert, who is formally the number two to the German head of state, President Horst Koehler, had written a letter of protest back to ambassador Ma Canrong, voicing concern at 'not only the current situation in Tibet but also in other parts of China.'

German Science Minister Annette Schavan joined the criticism of China, telling the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag, 'China ought to know you cannot hold a great empire together by oppression.' She said she would raise human rights breaches during a coming visit to China.

Spiegel said Beijing had applied pressure on Lammert to cancel the meeting, bringing a hardening of German-Chinese relations.

As per media reports Chinese President Chinese President Hu Jintao has his valid points and said he was ready to meet the Dalai Lama.But accused Dalai Lama of trying to 'ruin the Beijing Olympics'. He said talks could open only if he desisted from trying to 'split the motherland' and 'incite violence'. President Hu said: 'Our conflict with the Dalai clique is not an ethnic problem, not a religious problem, nor a human rights problem. It is a problem of either preserving national unity or splitting the motherland.'

Merkel later told a news conference with the Norwegian prime minister in Oslo she had no plans to meet the Dalai Lama before the Beijing Olympics but expected to meet him again in future.'We think we must have a dialogue with China and also with the Dalai Lama's representatives,' said Merkel during a one-day visit. 'It's important to solve problems through dialogue.'

Merkel said she would address the Council of Europe on human rights next week and, without naming any country, again advocated dialogue.'We know human rights are still being abused in many parts of the world,' she said. 'And we think we can improve them worldwide through dialogue and by setting a good example.'

With pressing China, Russia, and Zimbabwe on rights issues, Merkel has started departing from soft-footed approach that was the hallmark of post-1945 German policy, from Konrad Adenauer to Gerhard Schroeder.