Berlin, December 1 – The German government is openly provoking China by planning to meet again with the Dalai Lama, only two months after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s talks with the Tibetan spiritual leader led to a major deterioration in Berlin-Beijing ties, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine said Saturday.
According to the report, the human rights coordinator of the German government, Guenter Nooke is expected to meet the Dalai Lama in Berlin on May 19.
It is still unclear whether Nooke will receive the Dalai Lama in his office in the German Foreign Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama has also requested to hold talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, however he has yet to receive an answer.
The German Foreign Ministry said it was still “reviewing” the request of the Dalai Lama.
Merkel and Steinmeier have been involved in major feud over the China policy in recent weeks.
The chancellor has strongly defended her decision to meet with the Tibetan spiritual head.
“As chancellor, I decide whom I meet and where I meet them. I wish everyone in the government would keep to this position because otherwise China’s respect for us will not increase,” she was quoted saying.
Her remarks were clearly aimed at Steinmeier who has criticized Merkel for trying to “showcase” the human rights issue as part of her wider public relations strategy in the field of German foreign policy.
The Merkel-Steinmeier dispute comes at a time where both coalition partners are getting ready for the 2009 election campaign with the Social Democrats (SPD) trailing by a wide margin in all opinion polls over the past weeks.
Although SPD chairman Kurt Beck is still a front-runner for the chancellor’s job, Merkel sees also in Steinmeier a likely serious contender for the top post in Germany.
While Merkel has pressed ahead with the US rapprochement process and tried to distance herself from China and Russia, Steinmeier who was the former bureau chief of ex-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder — had played an instrumental role in fostering closer ties with Beijing and Moscow.
Beijing has called off a series high-level political meetings in recent weeks, voicing its protest over the provocative meeting between Merkel and the Dalai Lama at the chancellery in late September.
