EU-DIGEST

Sarkozy accused of hypocrisy as his wife meets the Dalai Lama - by John Lichfield

The French First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, will meet the Dalai Lama in France this week – adopting for the first time her self-proclaimed role as a kind of queen of human rights. Officially, Mme Bruni-Sarkozy will meet the Buddhist spiritual leader as a man of faith, not as as a symbol of Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule. In truth, her role will be more ambiguous and more political, deflecting criticism from her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, who announced last week that he would not "provoke" the Chinese government by meeting the Dalai Lama while the Olympic Games were in progress in Beijing.

The French media have, almost universally, interpreted the deployment of the First Lady to greet the Tibetan leader as a clumsy attempt to combine realpolitik and principle.

The centre-left newspaper Libération said: "To human rights activists [the President] is saying 'Carla'. To the Chinese, he is saying: "here I come'." The first secretary of the Socialist Party, François Hollande, said: "Nicolas Sarkozy has already won the gold medal for hypocrisy." Elysée officials said that the decision was made at the suggestion of the Dalai Lama himself, who advised Paris that it was "better not to annoy the Chinese during the Olympics".

Labels: EU, France, Sarkozy, Tibet

Netherlands: Ticket For Tibet - “Als Je Ooit Nog Eens Terug Kan”

The singles ‘If You Can Ever Return’ [Als je ooit nog eens terug kan] is a number one on the latest Dutch Single Top 100. It is also number one in the iTunes download in the Netherlands. It is a song dedicated to the Tibetan people by a group of top Dutch artists in collaboration with Tibetan singer Loten Namling from Switzerland. On Sunday 20th April the biggest Tibet-related concert ever held in the Netherlands took place in Amsterdam with 10, 000 visitors who enjoyed the day of warm sun shine, multi cultural shows, political debates of all Party Representatives and great music from some of the biggest bands here. The highlight of the evening was live performances of current top singles by Peter Slager (Bløf), Anneke van Giersbergen (Agua de Annique), Bas Kennis (Bløf), Loten Namling, Bart van der Weide (Racoon), JW Roy, Dennis van Leeuwen (Kane), Jeroen Goossens (JW Roy) en Gerard. The song ‘If you can ever return’ is about returning to one’s own land. It is a beautiful pop song with a lot of emotions and a clear message of the wishes of an exiled people.

Labels: Anneke van Giersbergen, EU, Peter Slager, The Netherlands, Tibet

Olympics "Catastrophic" for Chinese Press Freedom

A Chinese journalist jailed for her reporting told a conference in Paris today (Friday) that press freedom and human rights have worsened in China and that conditions for journalists in the run-up to the Olympics are "considerably more catastrophic" than they were when she was arrested 15 years ago. "Freedom of the press and human rights constitute the most serious problem currently facing China," said Gao Yu, who was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to six years in prison for sending two articles on current affairs to a Hong Kong review. She was charged with "divulging state secrets", a catch-all charge often used by Chinese authorities to stifle independent reporting and dissent.

Labels: China, Freedom of the Press, Olympics, Tibet

French President refuses to rule out Olympics ceremony boycott

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that "all options were open" regarding a possible boycott of the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony. "All options are open and I appeal to the Chinese leaders' sense of responsibility," Sarkozy said during a visit to the southwestern Pyrenees region. Aides to Sarkozy said France had not shut the door on a possible boycott of the August 8 Olympics opening ceremony, even though it still opposed calls to stay away from the entire games. "I want a dialogue to start and I will step up my response according to the response given by the Chinese authorities," Sarkozy said.

The media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony to protest China's human rights record and the violence in Tibet.

Labels: China, EU, France, Olympics, Tibet

German Protest over Chinese Crackdown: Berlin Halts Talks with Beijing After Tibet Violence

The German government has announced it will suspend talks with the Chinese development ministry because of China's violent crackdown on Tibet protestors. Relations between the two countries had only recently normalized after a fallout last autumn.The German government says it will suspend talks with China on climate change and renewable energy until the violence in Tibet has come to an end. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's development minister, announced Wednesday that talks that were planned for May with China's development ministry would not take place, given the current situation in Tibet.

Labels: China, EU, Germany, Tibet

Following film director Steven Spielberg's decision last month to pull out as an adviser to the Beijing Games opening ceremony over China's support for Sudan, the IOC were already bracing themselves for a wave of protests in the run up to the start of this summer's Olympics.But yesterday's crackdown in Lhasa has left many in the Olympic movement fearing that the Beijing Games could now be hit by a series of international boycotts, reviving memories of America's withdrawal from the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Although European leaders yesterday dismissed talk of a boycott, one leading IOC member told the Daily Telegraph: "Clearly we are very worried about the situation. Our role is ultimately to organise a good Games but we have always been clear; when things start to affect the Games then we will react."

Labels: China, Olympics, Tibet

China: Riots and Gunfire on streets of Lhasa - EU urges China to show restraint - by Tania Branigan and Randeep Ramesh

China was struggling last night to bring Lhasa, Tibet's capital, under control after the fiercest anti-government protests for 20 years led to rioting and gunfire on the streets yesterday. Authorities ordered a curfew and deployed thousands of police officers around the city after a day of turmoil in which eyewitnesses reported hearing automatic gunfire, tanks were seen in the centre and armed police used water cannon and teargas as young Tibetans set security vehicles on fire and stoned Chinese residents.The EU urged China to show restraint.

The Free Tibet campaign said it was told by a witness that three lay people and a monk had died and Students for a Free Tibet (India) claimed police had shot dead a teenage girl after the Chinese government ordered the deployment of 10,000 troops in the city.

Labels: China, Tibet