Germany demands transparency in Tibet
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is calling on the Chinese government to raise the media blackout in Tibet, mass-circulation newspaper Bild reported ahead of its Saturday edition.
Chinese authorities admitted on Friday to firing on protesters. Authorities forced the last international journalists, German reporters Georg Blume and Kristin Kupfer, from Tibet on Thursday.
“The German government is saying unambiguously to the Chinese: be transparent! We want to know exactly what is going on in Tibet,” Steinmeier told Bild.
Steinmeier said he plans a telephone conversation with his Chinese counterparts this weekend.
Steinmeier advised the Chinese government to allow more openness in view of the Olympic games scheduled in Beijing this summer.
“Glittering presentations on television while things go all haywire in the hinterland – that doesn’t work anymore,” he said. “Whoever puts on the games today must allow thousands of reporters into the country. Nothing else must be swept under the rug.”
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Chinese authorities admitted on Friday to firing on protesters. Authorities forced the last international journalists, German reporters Georg Blume and Kristin Kupfer, from Tibet on Thursday.
“The German government is saying unambiguously to the Chinese: be transparent! We want to know exactly what is going on in Tibet,” Steinmeier told Bild.
Steinmeier said he plans a telephone conversation with his Chinese counterparts this weekend.
Steinmeier advised the Chinese government to allow more openness in view of the Olympic games scheduled in Beijing this summer.
“Glittering presentations on television while things go all haywire in the hinterland – that doesn’t work anymore,” he said. “Whoever puts on the games today must allow thousands of reporters into the country. Nothing else must be swept under the rug.”
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