German-Chinese row worries Berlin

BERLIN, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Diplomatic tensions between Germany and China are getting worse by the day.

Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was "worried" over the escalating tensions between Berlin and Beijing following several canceled bilateral meetings.

"We have had better relations with China, that is unfortunately true," Steinmeier over the weekend told journalists in Paris, Deutsche Welle Online said. "What is particularly worrying for us for the time being is that the visit by the German finance minister could not happen, while talks on human rights and the rule of law have been canceled."

"It is a development that we cannot let remain as is," he said, adding that it was in Germany's interest to rebuild "good relations with China."

China is still angry because German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September officially met wit the Dalai Lama at the Chancellery, the political equivalent of the White House in Germany. The Dalai Lama since his failed uprising against the Chinese rule of Tibet in 1959 is persona non grata in the country; China accuses him of being a separatist who wants to break up China's territorial integrity; the spiritual leader says he wants greater autonomy for the region as the Chinese government continues to repress Tibetan Buddhists' religious freedom, especially their worship of the Dalai Lama.

Merkel knew that receiving the Dalai Lama wouldn't exactly please Beijing, but the force of the diplomatic earthquake has taken politicians in Germany by surprise.

Virtually all bilateral meetings have since been canceled by China, including a security roundtable and one on human rights.

German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in its Monday issue that German diplomats fear that French companies are now trying to win business deals away from German companies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Beijing later this month.