http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=agWeW_gVsPbs&refer=germany
Merkel Rules out Olympic Boycott, Urges Talks With Dalai Lama
By Patrick Donahue
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel 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.
The Olympics offer China the chance to engage with the world socially and politically, Merkel said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The German leader, who was criticized by Beijing last year for meeting with the Dalai Lama, said she would meet again with Tibet's exiled leader. Government spokesman Ruediger Petz confirmed the interview.
``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 2008 Beijing Games have become a focal point for worldwide protest against China after the government suppressed protests in Tibet last month. Western governments so far have ruled out a boycott, calling instead on Chinese authorities to open talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.
While the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in northern India has accused Chinese troops of killing as many as 140 protesters, Beijing has put the death toll from the riots in Lhasa at 22, mostly civilians burned to death by rioters.
Merkel's relationship with China was frayed last year after she met with the Dalai Lama in the chancellery in Berlin. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Jan. 22 that relations had been restored after the German government reiterated its recognition of Tibet as a part of China. |
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发表于 2008-4-12 23:47
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