China scraps EU summit in protest at Dalai Lama visit

Published on Wednesday 26 November 2008 20:41

CHINA, angry at plans for Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Europe, has called off a summit with the European Union that may have forged a joint response to the global economic crisis.

The EU said it regretted Beijing's decision but pledged to keep promoting a strategic partnership "when the global economic and financial situation calls for very close co-operation between Europe and China".

France confirmed President Nicolas Sarkozy would meet the Dalai Lama in Poland on 6 December to mark the 25th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize to former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, despite Beijing's displeasure.

"Nicolas Sarkozy ... is free to decide his agenda," a government spokesman, Luc Chatel, insisted.

China's foreign ministry earlier this month warned Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, that the EU risked losing "hard-won" gains in ties with Beijing if he met the Dalai Lama.