From Reuters:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday she wanted Beijing to hold talks with Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Tibet is one of the most sensitive subjects for Western leaders to broach with China, which views the Dalai Lama as a separatist.
It took months for China to forgive Merkel for meeting the spiritual leader in 2007. Now Beijing is fuming over French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s meeting with the exiled Buddhist leader. Wen has left Paris out of his tour of European capitals this week.
“We talked about the situation in Tibet and from the German side, I emphasised that we have a common interest that talks with the Dalai Lama get under way,” said Merkel at a joint news conference with Wen.
