Published by: World Tibet Network News, Sunday, Jun 16, 1996

`Ta Kung Pao', Hong Kong, in Chinese 14 Jan 96 pa2

Text of "special dispatch" from Beijing by staff reporter Ma Ling (7456 3781): "As German Friedrich Naumann Foundation supports Tibet's independence, China suspends its cooperative relations with the organization"

Beijing, 13th June: The German Friedrich Naumann Foundation [FNF] plans to hold the second international meeting of Tibet support groups together with the Tibetan government-in-exile in Bonn from 14th-17th June. This matter has enraged the Chinese government. This morning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry officially called in the German ambassador to make representations on the conduct of the FNF, and inform him of the "reciprocal act" of the Chinese side.

At today's regular news conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang said: "The German FNF has openly supported the Dalai Lama clique in its activities to split China. It has defied solemn and just representations repeatedly made by the Chinese side, and persisted in these erroneous acts of interfering in China's internal affairs. In view of this, the Chinese side has decided to suspend the cooperation between its State Statistical Bureau and the FNF and halt all the activities of its representative in China."

He added: "This morning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry officially called in the German ambassador to China to make representations on this issue and inform him of the decision of the Chinese side." But he refused to reveal the specific details of the contents of representations between the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the German ambassador to China.

He only emphasized: "In recent years, rapid and good progress has been made in Sino-German relations. However, some people in Germany have often done things to interfere in China's internal affairs. This is definitely not in tune with the development of Sino-German relations. China hopes that the German government will attach great importance to this matter, and take truly effective measures to prevent the recurrence of matters which harm China's sovereignty and state unity, so as not to negatively affect Sino-German relations."