China is strongly dissatisfied with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular press conference on Tuesday.

 

Jiang noted that Merkel ignored China's repeated requests and persisted in meeting the Dalai Lama, who has long been a separatist and political exile engaging in activities aimed at splitting the motherland and sabotaging national unity.

 

Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama was a rude interference into China's internal affairs that not only hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, but also gravely harmed China-Germany relations, Jiang stressed.

 

China requested that Germany safeguard overall China-Germany relations and the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and take practical and effective measures to eradicate the negative impacts caused by its wrongdoing so as to avoid unnecessary damage to the bilateral relationship.

 

Merkel met the Dalai Lama at her office on September 23.

 

Delegates sent to US for climate change forum

 

A representative of President Hu Jintao will head a delegation attending a two-day climate change meeting in the US, Jiang said.

 

"We hope this meeting will be a success in promoting technology cooperation on climate change between the world's major economies and pushing forward the international negotiations along the track of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol," said Jiang.

 

President Hu's representative will be Xie Zhenhua, deputy minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top economic planner.

 

The meeting, to be held September 27 and 28 in Washington, was a proposal by US President George W. Bush to set long-term goals on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Invited to the meeting in Washington are representatives of the UN, EU member countries, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea.

 

The US, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has refused to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which mandates cuts in the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The Protocol expires in 2012.

 

Response to unrest in Myanmar

 

China hopes and believes the Myanmar government and people can properly handle the current situation, said Jiang.

 

"China always sticks to the policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries," Jiang said. "As a neighboring country of Myanmar, we hope to see that its society is stable and its economy develops."

 

Triggered by a fuel price increase in August 15, a series of demonstrations were held in Yangon. More than a dozen people have been detained and charged with undermining stability and security of the state.

 

Six-party talks

 

A North Korean delegation headed by Kim Gye-gwan, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, left Pyongyang on Tuesday for Beijing to attend a new round of the six-party talks.

 

It's reported that North Korea and the US will discuss disabling the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon during the talks, which are scheduled to last from Thursday to Sunday.

 

The resumption of the talks was announced on September 21 by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.

 

Friendly relations with Japan

 

The Chinese government will maintain its friendly policy with Japan, Jiang said, hours before Yasuo Fukuda was announced as Japan's new prime minister.

 

"We congratulate Yasuo Fukuda on becoming the prime minister. China is willing to continue to make joint efforts with Japan to advance strategic and mutually beneficial relations and push bilateral relations on the track of healthy and stable development," Jiang said.

 

Maintaining high-level visits was an important consensus reached by the leaders of the two nations, and China is willing to work with Japan to realize the consensus, she said.

 

To mark the 35th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties, a series of activities will be held during the second half of 2007.

 

Jiang said the activities would advance mutual understanding and friendly sentiments between the two peoples and would play a positive role in pushing forward bilateral ties.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2007)