China Doesn't Like Polish Support for Tibet

The Chinese government has voiced annoyance at Warsaw City Council for supporting Tibet's independence and inviting the Dalai Lama to Warsaw. In a meeting on April 11, a diplomat from the Political Section of the Chinese Embassy in Warsaw, Ms. Yu Ruilin, expressed her utmost exasperation on behalf of China at the firm and unjustified accusations toward the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Gazeta Wyborcza quotes the Chinese official, who wrote: "The unrest in Tibet was not simply a peaceful demonstration." She criticised the invitation issued by the Warsaw Council to the Dalai Lama and demanded that the Polish state authorities, "influence local authority institutions to abstain from actions discrediting the Chinese government in the future".

In a reply letter, the Polish Foreign Ministry said they had no authority over local governments in Poland. "We're entitled to our own view. I'm not surprised that it isn't popular in China. The invitation for Dhalai Lma is still standing. Nothing has changed there," said Ewa Malinowska-Grupinsk a at the Warsaw City Council.

"The issue of violating the human rights in Tibet deserves attention," agreed Maciej Maciejowski, representing the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party in the Council. At the end of March, the Warsaw Council organized a demonstration outside Warsaw Town Hall, on behalf of Varsovians, deeply moved by 'Tibet's tragedy' and appealed to the Mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz- Waltz, to begin co-operation with the Tibetan authorities in exile, represented by Dalai Lama.