Hamburg - A German Lutheran leader, Maria Jepsen, who is bishop of Hamburg, spoke out in support of Tibetans during a "global day of action" for Tibet on Monday, recalling how she had insistently raised the Tibet issue on her own visits to China. She told 300 people holding "Freedom for Tibet" banners on a downtown square in the northern port-city of Hamburg that the Christian religion obliged its believers to support the oppressed.
"Two things are stake at the moment: the dignity of China and the life of Tibet," she said. "Only peace can preserve both."
She criticized those who avoided criticizing China because of business links with that country.
She said she had realized on visits to China as a church leader that "silence is not always golden." She appealed to German political and business leaders to speak out "with clear words in criticism of China's actions."
Lutheran churches claim the allegiance of about one third of Germany's 82-million population.
Several groups including the city's Tibet Centre and the Tibet Initiative of Germany, which had demonstrated last Wednesday, organized the "Freedom for Tibet" rally. It was their fourth demonstration in two weeks. The crowd included Tibetans.
