The Chinese move came after France announced that Sarkozy would meet with the Dalai Lama in Poland on Saturday, when both men will take part in a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize to former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is also scheduled to visit the Czech Republic and Belgium, to meet leaders in those European countries and to address the European Parliament.

All this was clearly too much for China to take. After negotiations failed to sway the Europeans, Beijing called off the summit meeting. Subsequently, in response to questions about when and under what conditions a summit could be held, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said:

“The convening of the 11th China-EU Summit depends on whether France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will take proper measures to create the necessary and good conditions and atmosphere for the summit.”

Sarkozy has talked about meeting the Dalai Lama for months. He also spoke of boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics unless China resumed its dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

In the end, China resumed the dialogue but no progress was made. Sarkozy attended the Olympics and now will meet with the Dalai Lama.

France’s term as EU president ends this month and the Czech Republic will take over. But support for Tibetan independence is high among Czechs and the situation vis-a-vis China may not necessarily improve.

Other European leaders, such as Angela Merkel of Germany and Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, have also met the Dalai Lama within the last year.

China’s position, as articulated by its spokesmen, is total opposition to all contact between the Dalai Lama and “foreign governments and leaders in whatever form.”

However, Beijing reacts especially strongly if the meetings take place in an official setting, or if it is not clearly stated that the Tibetan leader is being received in his religious capacity.

The American president, George W. Bush, has also upset China by meeting the Dalai Lama but the meetings have been relatively low-key. Besides, China’s main problem with the United States is not Tibet but Taiwan.

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