CHINA DEMARCHES EU NATIONS ON TIBET

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 001021 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2028 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CH SUBJECT: CHINA DEMARCHES EU NATIONS ON TIBET REF: BEIJING 1001 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1. 4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) Summary: EU Embassy contacts reported March 18 that the Chinese Government on March 17 urged EU members not to publicly support or have contact with the Dalai Lama. MFA officials also protested Tibet-related demonstrations throughout Europe, particularly those that resulted in damage to Chinese embassies and consulates in several European cities. Some EU nations also received a protest letter from FM Yang to their respective Foreign Ministers. The text of the letter is largely identical to the one given to us March 17 (reftel),but includes an extra paragraph that cites the Vienna Conventions and calls for greater protection of Chinese diplomatic facilities. End Summary. ¶2. (C) The Chinese government on March 17 called in diplomats from the EU Troika (current Presidency Slovenia, future Presidency France and the EU Commission),Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands to protest security breaches and minor damage to Chinese embassies and consulates in several European cities and to ask for increased protection for Chinese diplomats and diplomatic facilities. The Chinese urged European nations to give "no public support" to the Dalai Lama and to revoke any visas he has been granted. The Dalai Lama's upcoming travel plans, EU colleagues told us, include a visit to the EU Parliament and to the German state of Hesse. Our EU colleagues' reports of the atmospherics of the MFA meeting varied. A German diplomat said the demarche was "not out of the ordinary" and not particularly harsh or strident. A French colleague, on the other hand, called the tone of the Chinese protest "unusually strong." The Chinese MFA delivered a similar demarche separately to the Czech Embassy, according to a Czech diplomat. ¶3. (C) At approximately 2200 hours March 17, the MFA called in 15 of the 27 EU Ambassadors for a second demarche on the same topic. The 15 Embassies invited appear to have been those EU countries that had not received previous representations from the Chinese on this subject. These Ambassadors received a letter on the Tibet issue from Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to deliver to their Foreign Ministers. The text of the letter is almost identical to the one given to us March 17 (reftel),but includes an extra paragraph that cites the Vienna Conventions and calls for greater protection of Chinese diplomatic facilities. RANDT