(TibetanReview.net, May14, 2016) – China has on May 12 not only confirmed that it had refused entry to the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the Federal German Parliament but also warned that it was “unwise” of the committee to issue a statement May 11 on the development.
Addressing a regular press briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang has accused the chairman, Mr Michael Brand, of having “blatantly breached the commitment of the German government to the ‘one China’ policy” and of having “stuck his heels in advocating ‘Tibet independence’”.
This apparently referred to Mr Brand’s participation in Tibet-related events in Germany despite being sounded off by the Chinese embassy there. For example, in May of 2015, he gave a speech at Tibet Initiative Deutschland’s annual membership meeting in Frankfurt despite being asked by the Chinese ambassador to cancel his participation in that event, said the Tibet support group in a May 11 statement. And China’s official globaltimes.cn May 13 specifically stated this to be reason for denying him entry.
“I can say for sure that China will not welcome such a man,” Lu has said in his briefing, which is posted on the ministry’s website.
Lu has maintained that the Chinese Embassy in Germany and relevant departments had done a lot of work preparing for the visit of the Human Rights Committee of the Federal German Parliament. But in the light of its ban on Mr Brand, will China now dictate who can or cannot be members of the committee for the visit, if it is allowed to go ahead?
Lu has suggested that Brand was blacklisted purely for what China perceived was his position on Tibet, although Mr Brand clearly would not agree with that since he does not support Tibet’s independence from China’s rule. “We don’t invite him to China, not because of what he said about China’s human rights, since you know that he is not the only one that has something to say about China’s human rights.”