“The European Union meets Friday to discuss ties to China after the unrest in Tibet.” The Christian Science Monitor’s Robert Marquand reports from Paris:
If the government of China hopes the world will go for its line on Tibet and the nefarious Dalai Lama and his purported “clique” – Europe isn’t buying it.
The response to the Tibetan crisis in London, Paris, and Berlin, rather, is a call for “dialogue” between China and the exiled Tibetan leader, and”restraint” by Beijing.
A boycott of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games is being discussed as a leverage point in Austria, Belgium, Britain, and France – to be determined by how China handles the frustrations of its Tibetan minority.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has “left open the option” of boycotting the ceremony, Germany has blocked talks with China on economic development, and Britain’s foreign secretary, David Miliband, says that Tibet demonstrations will be authorized as the Olympic torch is carried through London on April 6.
Also, from the Press Association:
The UK has hit out at China’s continuing “violation” of human rights in the wake of bloodshed in Tibet.
There has been a “disappointing” lack of progress towards a peaceful settlement in the disputed territory, and people are regularly “harassed” for their religious beliefs. More executions are also carried out in China than anywhere else in the world, and torture of prisoners is a “concern”, according to the British Government.
