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Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, has led a chorus of European criticism over China’s actions in Tibet, refusing to rule out a boycott of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
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Richard Spencer: The Olympics were already political
Tibet groups abroad say a protester was shot dead when police responded by ‘firing indiscriminately’
“I don’t close the door to any option. I want dialogue to begin and I will graduate my response according to the response given by Chinese authorities,” Mr Sarkozy said.
Until yesterday, Western governments had been measured in their response to two weeks of unrest in Tibet, mostly rejecting any possibility of an Olympics boycott.
But days of strident attacks on the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, by Beijing; an uncompromising security response inside Tibet, and the publicity gained by anti-China protesters abroad have generated a fiercer response.
Britain also criticised Beijing, with an annual report by the Foreign Office highlighting Beijing’s “violation” of human rights in Tibet. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said worldwide concern about the situation in Tibet was “justified and proper”.
“There needs to be mutual respect between all communities and sustained dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities,” he said.
In its first collective statement, the European Union demanded that China stop using force against peaceful protesters, while also calling on demonstrators to “desist from violence”.
“The EU stresses the importance it attaches to the right of freedom of expression and peaceful protest,” it said at the United Nations in Geneva.
Germany also urged dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama. A spokesman said Chancellor Angela Merkel was prepared “at any time” to repeat her meeting last year with the Dalai Lama, which plunged relations between Beijing and Berlin into an unexpected freeze.
At the weekend, the Chinese government accused the Dalai Lama of being behind rioting in Lhasa, which left 19 dead, and of conspiring with Muslim terrorists to sabotage the Olympic Games.
A government spokesman said a protest by free speech campaigners at the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece was “shameful and unpopular”.
The spokesman added: “We also believe that competent authorities in countries through which the torch relay will pass have the obligation to ensure a smooth relay.”
This suggests that China expects host countries, including Britain, to react vigorously to prevent protests.
Today, in a public relations fightback, Beijing will take a small, carefully selected group of foreign journalists to Lhasa to present its side of the story.
The government confirmed that a policeman was killed by rioters in a Tibetan area of Sichuan province on Monday.
Tibet groups abroad say a protester was shot dead when police responded by “firing indiscriminately”.
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