Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday, Jun 19, 1996

BONN, June 17 (Reuter) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel on Monday backed a draft parliamentary resolution on human rights in Tibet which has angered China at a time of irritation between the two countries.

Guido Westerwelle, general secretary of Kinkel's Free Democratic Party (FDP), told reporters Kinkel had "explicitly backed" the resolution during a leadership meeting of the party, the junior partner in Chancellor Helmut Kohl's coalition.

China has already objected to Bonn's ambassador in Beijing about the resolution, which is due to be debated on Thursday.

The draft, backed by all the major parliamentary parties including Kohl's Christian Democrats, condemns a list of what it calls Chinese human rights abuses intended to eradicate Tibet's cultural identity.

It also calls on the Bonn government to urge China to end such abuses and to open talks with Tibet's "government in exile" on increased rights for the Tibetan people.

Bonn does not recognise the term because it considers Tibet to be a part of China, which has ruled the Himalayan region since the People's Liberation Army entered in 1950.

Earlier this month, after Chinese complaints, Bonn withdrew financial backing for a conference on Tibet billed as including members of Tibet's government-in-exile and featuring Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The conference was organised by the Friedrich Naumann foundation, an independent group close to the FDP.

China, which accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split China and of fomenting anti-Chinese unrest, reacted by ordering the foundation to close its Beijing office.

Finance Minister Theo Waigel told reporters in Munich on Monday the FDP had created "substantial confusion" in foreign policy by supporting the conference, and said there had been a lack of coordination between Kinkel's ministry and his party.

Kinkel is due to visit Beijing early next month, and Westerwelle said the FDP leadership continued to back the visit.

"You can only change things by negotiating," he said. REUTER