SINO-GERMAN RELATIONS BACK ON TRACK

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 000260 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2028 TAGS: PREL PHUM CH GM SUBJECT: SINO-GERMAN RELATIONS BACK ON TRACK Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1. 4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) Several high-level German officials plan to visit China in the wake of the recent thaw in Sino-German relations, which soured after Chancellor Merkel's September 23 meeting with the Dalai Lama. German Embassy Second Secretary Dirk Lechelt told PolOff January 24 that German SIPDIS Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to visit in May and Minister of the Environment Sigmar Gabriel will visit early in the year. Whether a planned Human Rights Dialogue, canceled by China after Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama, will also be rescheduled is uncertain. However, the Foreign Minister-level Strategic Dialogue and a Ministers of Justice sub-dialogue are now being scheduled. German President Horst Koehler may also attend the Paralympics, but will most likely not attend the Olympics. ¶2. (C) Lechelt said the thaw in relations followed an exchange of letters between the Foreign Ministers of the two nations, an idea agreed upon by both parties during unpublicized meetings on the margins of the Annapolis Conference November 26-27. The Germans stressed their adherence to a one China policy, including both Taiwan and Tibet, and called the proposed Taiwan UN referendum a "mistake." A similar situation arose in 1996 when the German Government offended the Chinese government over Tibet. According to Lechelt, the subsequent thaw in relations at that time was also achieved via a confidential exchange of letters between Foreign Ministers. RANDT