Beijing - China put the blame for its postponement of next week's China-EU summit on French President Nicolas Sarkozy because of the EU president's plans to meet the Dalai Lama. China delayed the summit that had been planned for Monday in Lyon, France, because the atmosphere for it was poor and it would not achieve its expected goals, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Wednesday night, according to a report in the official Xinhua news agency.
Qin said the Chinese government was dissatisfied with the plans by Sarkozy, who now holds the European Union's rotating presidency, to meet with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader on December 6 in Poland. Sarkozy and other European leaders plan to meet the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan joins other Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Gdansk to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Solidarity trade union founder Lech Walesa winning the prize.
The Dalai Lama has long called for greater autonomy for Tibet within China, insisting that he does not seek independence for the region. China, however, accuses him of being a separatist, a charge Qin repeated.
"The Tibet issue is related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and it touches China's interests at the core," Qin said. "We firmly oppose the Dalai Lama's separatist activities in foreign countries in any capacity and firmly oppose the contact between foreign leaders with him in any form."
Qin said China did not bear any responsibility for the postponement of the summit, charging that it had told France repeatedly ahead of the summit "to properly handle" the Tibet issue but France did not respond to China's efforts to maintain relations with France and the European Union.
The spokesman added, however, that it remained committed to developing its relations with Europe.
The French daily Le Parisien said the postponement came despite French assurances that the meeting with the Dalai Lama would be "an informal meeting and not a private one."
China has in the past clashed fiercely with EU member states over the question of the Dalai Lama, who is popular in Europe. Such clashes have become an increasingly sensitive issue in recent years as China has become the EU's second most important trading partner after the United States and its single most important source of manufactured imports.
The EU had "set ambitious objectives" for the summit and "regrets" the Chinese decision, an EU statement said.
International Tibetan groups also criticized China's refusal to attend the summit. Vincent Metten, EU Policy Director of the International Campaign for Tibet, said the decision is "counter productive to its own interests and risks damaging European confidence in China as a responsible partner."
"Beijing cannot escape the reality that the EU, the United States and the United Nations all have serious concerns about the political and human rights situation in Tibet and respect the Dalai Lama's leadership and his willingness to engage with China," said Metten.
Matt Whitticase, of the Free Tibet Campaign said China "highlighted its deep insecurity over its deteriorating human rights record in Tibet as well as its ongoing determination to avoid being held accountable for such abuses" with the delay of the talks.
Chinese police detained thousands of Tibetans earlier this year following independence protests and riots in many Tibetan areas.
Virtual martial law was imposed in some areas after pro-independence demonstrations and unrest began in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Regional capital, in early March.
The Chinese government said 19 people were killed in rioting from March 14 in Lhasa but the Tibetan government-in-exile said about 140 people were killed, most of them Tibetans shot by Chinese police.
Protests erupted in dozens of other Tibetan areas of China, including several in Sichuan.
