China stops talks with Germany after Dalai Lama visit

China has cancelled talks scheduled for this week between its foreign minister and his German counterpart after Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, denounced by Beijing as a separatist.

China has cancelled talks scheduled for this week between its foreign minister and his German counterpart after Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, denounced by Beijing as a separatist.

It is the second round of talks with Germany that China has called off since Merkel announced her private meeting with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader which took place in the chancellery in Berlin on Sunday.

Chinese officials have informed Germany that a traditional breakfast between the two countries’ foreign ministers at the UN General Assembly in New York would not take place “for diary reasons”, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

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“We are trying to set up a new appointment with our Chinese partners for a different time,” he told a regular news conference, declining to say if the cancellation was linked to the meeting between the Dalai Lama and the German chancellor.

China had protested against Merkel’s plans to meet the Dalai Lama and summoned the German ambassador in Beijing to object to the visit earlier this month. On Saturday, Germany said China had cancelled talks on the rule of law due to take place in Munich on Sunday for “technical reasons”.

Merkel’s foreign policy adviser Christoph Heusgen tried to soothe tensions by calling China’s ambassador in Berlin to brief him about the chancellor’s talks with the Dalai Lama. Heusgen made clear nothing had changed in terms of German policy towards China.

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