Symposium axed over Germany-China ‘ice age’

Der Spiegel said it would not hold the series of workshops, debates and lectures scheduled next week on the invitation of the Goethe Institute, which promotes German culture abroad, due to Chinese restrictions.

It said the highlight was to have been an exhibition featuring Der Spiegel cover art, which it said was suddenly cancelled due to the rift over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to receive the Dalai Lama in September.

“The renowned Doulun Museum in Shanghai on Wednesday revoked the invitation presented half a year ago to display the illustrations, citing the ‘ice age’ in German-Chinese relations,” it said in a statement.

Der Spiegel said it had in turn called off the remaining events.

“We will not allow Chinese censorship to dictate which events are allowed and which are not,” editor-in-chief Stefan Aust added.

Merkel enraged Chinese authorities by receiving the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in a move Beijing said had “seriously damaged” bilateral relations.

The chancellor has urged Beijing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama, and to allow him to return to the Tibetan region and help realise Beijing’s long-held promise of granting autonomy to the Himalayan region.

Since the meeting with the man Beijing sees as a dangerous separatist, China has axed a series of high-level exchanges with Germany, including a planned December trip to Beijing by Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck.

Der Spiegel said it had received several official complaints about coverage that was critical of China in recent weeks, including protests “by Chinese loyal to the regime” at the magazine’s headquarters in Hamburg.

It added that the deputy Chinese ambassador to Germany had attempted to prevent the publication of an interview with Taiwan President Chen-Shui bian, with a direct appeal to the editors.

“We will also in future never let anyone influence our coverage,” Aust said.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email