China criticizes Dalai Lama's visit to Germany as part of 'splittist' agenda

BEIJING -- China on Thursday condemned a visit by exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama to Germany, saying it was intended to further what Beijing alleges is an agenda to seek independence for the Himalayan region.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Beijing had expressed "our solemn position to Germany," over the visit, claiming the Dalai Lama was using religion to further his political agenda.

"We are against his splittist activities. We also oppose any country or individual who uses the Dalai issue as a means to meddle in China's internal affairs," Jiang said at a regularly scheduled news conference.

China routinely criticizes visits abroad by the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet for India in 1959 during a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, he remains popular among Tibetans and widely respected abroad, despite efforts to undermine him by Chinese authorities.

China claims Tibet has been its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that period.

In an expression of its pique over the visit, China earlier summoned Germany's ambassador to China to the Foreign Ministry, a typical diplomatic way of expressing displeasure.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was scheduled to meet the Dalai Lama at her office on Sunday, the first time the Dalai Lama has been received at the German chancellery, although he met with Germany's former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer several times during his time in office.

Merkel, who took power in 2005, has raised human rights publicly during both of her trips to China as chancellor, in contrast to her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who opponents accused of soft-pedaling the issue in favor of commercial interests.