By Hugh Williamson in Berlin and Tony Barber in Beijing
Thursday, November 29, 2007
 
Angela Merkel used a keynote parliamentary address to stress the importance of human rights in German foreign policy yesterday, in her toughest rejection to date of criticism of her meeting with the Dalai Lama.

“Human rights policies and the pursuance of economic interests are two sides of the same coin,” the chancellor told parliament. “They must never be played off against one another.”

Ms Merkel's meeting in September in the chancellery with Tibet's spiritual leader has sparked rare criticism within Germany's political establishment of her approach to foreign affairs, with attacks from within her ruling coalition and from the business community over her handling of the visit.


Yesterday she hit back, with her parliamentary speech and with comments in a magazine interview, in which she defended her right to set her own foreign policy priorities.

“Going forward I will continue to choose the guests I meet and the places I visit based on what I see as being correctly in Germany's interest,” she told Stern magazine.

Yet, in a sign that the standoff between Germany and China is set to worsen, Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, indicated that the German government needed to “correct” its “mistake” of hosting the Dalai Lama.

“Germany is a friend and partner for strategic co-operation. Friends and partners sometimes do wrong things and make wrong remarks,” Mr Wen said at the end of a European Union-China summit in Beijing.

“But as long as they are aware of their mistakes and correct them, we will always treat them as friends and partners,” Mr Wen said.



德国总理默克尔为处理德中关系做法强烈辩护

英国《金融时报》休•威廉森(Hugh Williamson)柏林、托尼•巴伯(Tony Barber)北京报道
2007年11月29日 星期四
 
德国总理安吉拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)昨日利用在议会发表基调演讲的机会，强调了人权在德国外交政策中的重要性。这是她针对各方对她会见达赖喇嘛(Dalai Lama)的批评所作出的迄今最强烈的反击。

“人权政策和追求经济利益是一个问题的两个方面，”默克尔在国会发言称。“决不能让它们相互矛盾。”

今年9月，默克尔在总理府接见了西藏精神领袖达赖喇嘛。此事引发了德国政界对其外交策略的罕见批评。她所在的执政联盟以及工商界都对她的这一做法提出了批评。


昨日，她对这些批评展开了反击。除了在议会发表上述演讲之外，她还接受了《Stern》杂志的采访。在采访中，她为自己确定外交政策优先顺序的权利进行了辩护。

她告诉该杂志：“今后，我将继续按照我认为什么符合德国利益，选择我要会见的来宾和我要访问的国家。”

然而，有迹象表明，德国和中国之间的僵局将恶化。中国总理温家宝表示，德国政府需要“纠正”其会见达赖喇嘛的“错误”。

温家宝在北京出席中欧峰会闭幕式时表示，德国是朋友，也是战略合作伙伴。朋友和伙伴有时会做错事，说错话。

温家宝表示，只要他们意识到并纠正错误，我们将永远把他们视为朋友和伙伴。

译者/梁艳裳