As the fireworks light up the Beijing sky this weekend, a number of European political leaders may feel like holding a closing ceremony of their own. This Saturday, the Dalai Lama will head for home, ending his 12-day stay in France and drawing to a close a string of European visits that have tormented European governments over the summer. Caught between pressure from domestic human rights groups on the one hand, and the economic imperative of maintaining harmonious relations with China on the other (during the particularly-sensitive Olympic period), politicians in France, Germany and the United Kingdom have found themselves walking a political tight-rope during the Tibetan spiritual leader’s peregrinations.
France: definitely maybe
France’s policy towards China has been particularly troubled. Following China’s political crackdown in ethnically Tibetan areas March, President Nicolas Sarkozy hinted that he would not attend the Olympic Games and would meet the Dalai Lama in France. Along with the pro-Tibet protests at the Paris leg of the Olympic Torch relay, this sparked a wave of anti-French protests in China and prompted Beijing to warn of “serious consequences” should Sarkozy meet with the Tibetan leader.
After a prolonged period of indecision, Sarkozy decided he would, in fact, attend the Games, and not meet the Dalai Lama; instead, the French president travelled to Beijing with a large delegation of French industrialists. However, France has since struggled to mend fences with Beijing. Several phone calls to the Chinese embassy supposedly went unanswered following a meeting between the Dalai Lama and 40 French Senators. According to a statement by the parliamentarians, he used the meeting to launch a fierce attack on the Chinese authorities, accusing them of conducting “summary executions” and using “lethal force”.
Germany: not at home
Sarkozy is not the only one to have lost favour in China. Last year, Beijing strongly criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel following her meeting with the Dalai Lama. Merkel was also the first EU leader to declare that she would not attend the Olympics. However, Germany remains China's largest EU trading partner and bilateral relations have subsequently improved under the weight of pragmatism. When the Dalai Lama returned to Germany for a week in May, the German government made sure that it would not upset the Chinese again. Merkel headed to Peru to take part in the EU-Latin America summit. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a business trip to Belgium for a week.
United Kingdom: render unto Brown
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, partly because London will host the 2012 Olympics. Despite disturbances during the torch relay in London, UK-China relations have been relatively little affected. However, while Brown’s decision to receive the Dalai Lama as a religious leader -- their meeting took place in Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury -- will have helped appease his Chinese counterparts, it also garnered widespread domestic criticism for the beleaguered prime minister.
Only eight EU leaders were present at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on August 8, highlighting the continuing struggle to find a common strategy for the bloc towards China. Sunday’s closing ceremony will mark the start of the four-year countdown to London 2012. The wait for the political games to reconvene will be considerably shorter -- the Dalai Lama is due in Switzerland in October.
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