German FM says ties with China will improve, strained over Dalai Lama visit

The Associated Press
January 22, 2008

BERLIN: Germany's foreign minister on Tuesday welcomed what he called a return to "normalization" of relations with China, following several strained months triggered by Chancellor Angela Merkel's reception of the Dalai Lama.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi held talks on the sidelines of a meeting about Iran with their U.S., British, French and Russian colleagues.

"We can not deny that the past weeks and months were not very easy for German-Chinese relations," Steinmeier told reporters ahead of the meeting, which lasted nearly an hour.

"Moreover, I welcome that our meeting this morning will signal that starting now, we have returned to a normalization of relations."

The ministers' meeting comes months after a flurry of diplomacy, which included an exchange of letters between the ministers, to try to smooth over Beijing's annoyance at Merkel receiving the Tibetan spiritual leader in September.

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Beijing canceled several meetings with German officials, including talks on human rights that were scheduled for December, to show its displeasure. Several German ministers, including Steinmeier himself, are now scheduled to travel to China in the coming months, the Foreign Ministry said.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split Tibet from China and frequently rails against any country that honors him or politicians who meet with him.

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