(TibetanReview.net, Apr27, 2014) – The Chinese stranglehold on Norway’s policy concerning the issue of Tibet has been strengthened with its Foreign Minister Børge Brende confirming Apr 26 that no government ministers or representatives of Norwegian authorities will meet with the Dalai Lama during his May 2014 visit. Earlier, Norway’s parliament president Mr Olemic Thommessen, long a Tibet supporter previously, too had made clear his decision not to meet the visiting exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.
Like Mr Thommessen, the foreign minister too has explained that the reason for his decision was the pressure from China and a wish to improve Norway’s icy relations with that country. Thommessen was severely criticized by the country’s political opposition, media and the public for what was condemned as his cowardly decision.
China stopped talking to Norway after the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 2010 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese democracy activist Mr Liu Xiaobo. It demanded that Oslo rectify the alleged wrongdoing although the government had no role in determining the Nobel Prize winner.
The Dalai Lama arrives in Oslo on May 7 for events marking the 25th anniversary of his winning the Nobel Peace Prize.