Written Statement by the spokesman of Mission of

the People's Republic of China to the European Communities

It is known to all that Tibet has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient time, and now is an autonomous region under the jurisdiction of China's sovereignty. All matters related to Tibet are totally China's internal affairs. No foreign governments, parliaments, organizations or individuals have the right to meddle in them in any form. The Dalai Lama is not an ordinary religious figure, but instead a political activist in exile who has long been engaged in activities abroad to split China. Relying on the support of certain foreign forces, the Dalai Clique has been further intensifying its activities to separate China, sabotage the national unity and the stability of Tibet, and is walking far and far away on the road of betraying the motherland and forsaking the Tibetan Buddhism. As a matter of fact, the Dalai Lama and his supporters have been. discarded from earlier time by the entire Chinese people of all nationalities, including the Tibetan people. In recent days, a handful of members o

f the European Parliament invite the Dalai Lama to attend the Plenary Session of the European Parliament and provide political forum for him, some leaders of the European Parliament and the European Commission even hold meetings with him. That not only is open support and instigation to the Dalai Clique's activities aiming at splitting China, but also constitutes serious encroachment upon China's sovereignty and gross intervention in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side hereby expresses its great discontent with and lodges a strong protest against the European side,

China attaches importance to the development of its relations with the European Union. However, Sino-EU relations should only be based on the principles of mutual respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit. Any act running against those principles will undermine the normal development of the relations between the two sides, The position of the Chinese government and people on territorial sovereignty and national dignity is firm and unshakable, they will never yield to any outside pressure. We demand the European Parliament and the European Commission take into account of the overall interests of the Sino-EU relations, strictly abide by the above-mentioned fundamental principles and stop interfering in China's internal affairs so as to prevent the bilateral relations from suffering further damage.