VZCZCXRO3715
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHRL #0427/01 0951427
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041427Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0838
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0949
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0527

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 000427 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CH GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY WALKS TIGHTROPE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE 
DALAI LAMA 
 
REF: BERLIN 365 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) German Chancellor Merkel and the interior and 
foreign ministries have ruled out a boycott of the Olympics, 
but government reactions, along with that of the public, 
continue to be critical of China.  Government statements and 
an April 3 special session of the German parliament on 
China's handling of demonstrations in Tibet reveal a 
predictably measured government response with some important 
nuances.  On the one hand, the government is critical of the 
Chinese for their lack of transparency and heavy-handedness 
with ethnic minorities, but on the other hand, it 
rationalizes the Chinese government's response in light of 
domestic politics and the extreme actions of some Tibetan 
protestors.  A planned May visit to Germany by the Dalai Lama 
and the question of his possible reception by EU foreign 
ministers will continue to complicate Germany's relations 
with China.  End summary. 
 
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NO OLYMPIC BOYCOTT, BUT NO SENIOR OFFICIALS ATTENDING 
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¶2. (U) German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to rule out 
a boycott of the Olympic Games in response to the Chinese 
government's handling of recent developments in Tibet 
(reftel) as do the foreign and interior ministers.  Merkel 
maintains that the conflict should be resolved politically 
and that the Beijing Olympics present an opportunity to raise 
awareness about Chinese domestic development and its handling 
of ethnic minorities.  On March 25, a Chancellery 
spokesperson repeated the necessity of direct talks between 
Beijing and the Dalai Lama and called on each party to 
approach the other side.  According to an Emnid poll, more 
than fifty percent of Germans support a boycott of the 
Olympics and twenty percent are strictly against any German 
participation. 
 
¶3.  (U) As previously decided before the recent unrest in 
Tibet, no high-ranking German government official will attend 
the opening ceremony of the Olympics.  (Note: Traditionally, 
the German Federal President attends the opening ceremony. 
President Koehler, whose daughter is blind, had already opted 
instead to attend the Special Olympics in September.  End 
Note).  Chancellor Merkel does not plan to travel to China 
until October 2008, to attend the EU-China summit. 
Interior/Sports Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will visit China 
ten days after the Olympics have begun.  A government 
spokesperson indicated on March 31 that the German ambassador 
to China, Michael Schaefer, may represent Germany at the 
games.  No German parliamentarian has yet advocated a boycott 
of the games, although several have argued to leave the 
option open should the situation in Tibet escalate (reftel). 
The March 24 announcement by the German Olympic Committee, 
stating outright there would be no boycott, was criticized by 
some German politicians as premature, given the uncertainty 
of further developments in Tibet. 
 
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STEINMEIER STRESSES END TO VIOLENCE, MORE TRANSPARENCY 
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¶4.  (SBU) In a March 25 phone conversation with Chinese 
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, German Foreign Minister 
Steinmeier called for an end to the violence in Tibet.  This 
was Steinmeier's second phone conversation with his Chinese 
counterpart since March 16 (reftel).  According to State 
Minister Gernot Erler, Steinmeier's call focused on three 
objectives: getting clarification of events on the ground, 
calling for an end to the 'information blockade' by the 
Chinese government, and urging 'full transparency' concerning 
the situation in Tibet. 
 
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PARLIAMENTARY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE: SPECIALTIBET SESSION 
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¶5.  (SBU) The German paliament's human rights committee 
convened a specal session on April 3 to discuss Tibet (Note: 
Th Bundestag was not in session during this time. En Note). 
 State Minister Erler and Human Rights Cmmissioner Guenter 
Nooke and offered messages reflecting concern on behalf of 
the German governmen about the situation, but urged measured 
responses from both Germany and the EU. 
 
BERLIN 00000427  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In his assessment of the situation in Tibet, Erler 
characterized the Chinese government's reaction as "insecure" 
and mired in party politics.  On the one hand, Erler said the 
Chinese leadership wanted to create a 'cautious opening' in 
dealing with the West, but on the other he said the GoC faced 
serious and threatening criticism from hard-line nationalists 
within the party.  Erler welcomed the Chinese government's 
invitation to journalists and diplomats last week to tour 
Lhasa, calling it a "cautious success", but commented that 
this opportunity was undermined by how heavily the government 
stage-managed the visit.  When questioned about the prospect 
of Foreign Minister Steinmeier supporting an invitation by EU 
foreign ministers to meet with the Dalai Lama, Erler was 
evasive and said he had not yet had a chance to discuss this 
with Steinmeier.  Erler also expressed concern that the Dalai 
Lama's plan to visit Germany in May could potentially incite 
more disturbances in Tibet. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Nooke struck a different tone in his assessment of 
developments in Tibet, expressing anger at the Chinese 
government's unwillingness to address the situation in the UN 
Human Rights Council.  Commenting that it was a mistake to 
allow China to host the Olympic games, Nooke nonetheless 
opposed a boycott at this time.  Nooke called on the 
international community to hold China accountable to the 
commitments it had made on human rights when it was given the 
opportunity to host the Olympics.  He added that the German 
government is trying to organize a new round of talks on 
human rights, but he said it looked unlikely that this would 
take place before the Olympic games. (Note: The last round, 
scheduled for December, was cancelled. End Note).  Nooke 
confirmed that he will meet with the Dalai Lama on May 18 in 
Nueremberg. 
 
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DALAI LAMA IN DEUTSCHLAND AND GERMAN OFFICIALS IN CHINA 
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¶8.  (U) The Dalai Lama's plans to visit Germany May 16-20 - 
at the invitation of the German Tibet Initiative - remain in 
place, and may further complicate German-Chinese relations. 
According to MFA and other contacts, he will meet with the 
president of the German parliament, Norbert Lammert, Human 
Rights Commissioner Guenter Nooke, and the 
Minister-Presidents of Northrhine-Westfalia and Hesse, 
Juergen Ruettgers and Roland Koch, the latter being a 
long-time friend of the Dalai Lama.  Chancellor Merkel will 
not meet with the Tibetan leader because she will be on 
official travel in Latin America at that time.  Her spokesman 
has said that Merkel will meet the Dalai Lama again at a 
different time -- thus rejecting speculation that she would 
not meet with him because of the months-long fissure in 
Sino-German relations following her September 2007 meeting 
with him.  It looks unlikely that FM Steinmeier will meet 
with him (see para 6), primarily because of his efforts in 
the past several months to restore German-Sino relations. 
According to the German Tibet Initiative, Steinmeier has 'not 
yet decided' whether or not to meet with the Dalai Lama. 
President Koehler has also apparently not yet responded to 
the invitation for a meeting. 
 
¶9.  (U) Meanwhile, German interest in the Tibetan situation 
remains extremely high, and various politicians have 
committed to trips to China and/or Tibet.  Following a call 
by the German Tibet Initiative, over two hundred city halls 
(including those of Frankfurt/Main, Bremen, and Wiesbaden) 
flew the Tibetan flag on March 31 to protest China's policy 
toward Tibet.  Frankfurt Mayor Petra Roth said that flying 
the Tibetan flag demonstrated opposition to what she 
described as 60 years of China's injustice toward Tibet. 
Roth will travel to China April 6-12 and intends to raise 
human rights violations in Tibet when she is there. 
Separately, Greens deputy caucus leader Jeurgen Trittin 
traveled to China March 30-April 4.  Post will report any 
read-out of these trips septel.  On April 3, the CDU 
Secretary General Ronald Pofalla issued a statement 
 
SIPDIS 
concerning the imprisonment of Chinese human rights activist 
Hu Jia, saying that allowing China to host the Olympics 
should not be a 'carte blanche' on their human rights record 
and demanded Hu's release. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶10.  (SBU) The German government continues to make efforts to 
deliver a balanced message on China and its handling of human 
 
BERLIN 00000427  003 OF 003 
 
 
rights and, in particular, its handling of ethnic minorities. 
 In his address to parliament on April 3, State Minister 
Erler characterized what had happened in Lhasa as a "pogrom" 
but also tried, diplomatically, to rationalize the Chinese 
government's response in the context of domestic (Chinese) 
politics.  There are clearly differing assessments of the 
situation within the Foreign Ministry, evident in the two 
areas where State Minister Erler and Human Rights 
Commissioner Nooke diverged.  On the justification for 
rejecting a boycott, Erler said it would send the wrong 
political signals, but Nooke stressed using the Olympics as 
an opportunity to raise criticism against China's human 
rights.  As for the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit to Germany, 
Erler characterized it as a possible incitement to further 
unrest while Nooke welcomed it and reiterated his plans to 
meet with him.  Discussion of a possible Olympics boycott is 
likely to continue, particularly among parliamentarians, in 
the wake of various German officials' visits to China this 
spring.  As noted in reftel, this could engender divisions 
between the leading coalition parties - the CDU/CSU and the 
SPD - and further politicization of China policy for the sake 
of domestic German politics.  End comment. 
TIMKEN JR