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China pressures Sarkozy not to meet Dalai Lama

China sent another strong warning to France yesterday, hinting that a planned meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama could have a broad effect on ties between the two countries.

China’s latest salvo in its campaign to isolate the Tibetan leader and punish Sarkozy came two days ahead of tomorrow’s meeting in the Polish city of Gdansk.

Beijing had demanded that Sarkozy cancel the meeting and called off a major China-EU summit planned for this week to register its dissatisfaction. That sparked fears among French business groups that trade ties could suffer — as they did between China and Germany after German Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama in Berlin last year.

At a regular news conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) said China hoped France “will create positive conditions for developing overall China-French relations and not create an impact on long-term development of ties that would harm the interests of people from the two countries.”

Paris, which holds the rotating EU presidency, must give “sincere consideration to the Chinese concerns and the position taken by China and take real action to improve China-French relations and ensure the development of China-EU relations,” Liu said.

China has been keeping mum on whether it plans to reduce its trade with France in retaliation, although Liu in his comments said economic and trade ties “rested on the basis of mutual benefit.”

He would not comment on any further impact of the Gdansk meeting, but the cancelation of the EU summit essentially paralyzed cooperation with the bloc.

Up to 200 Chinese business executives had been expected to meet with European counterparts on the fringes of the summit.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama met Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme on Wednesday and was scheduled to address the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday.

The meeting with Leterme was a 25-minute courtesy call at the prime minister’s official residence, a Belgian government spokesman said.

“He was received as a spiritual figure. What was said will remain between them,” he said.

The showpiece of the 73-year-old Buddhist leader’s visit to Brussels was to be yesterday’s speech in front of the European Parliament, as part of the chamber’s year of intercultural dialogue.

Later in the day, he was expected to visit the Belgian parliament.
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