China warns France over meeting with Dalai Lama

BEIJING (AFP) - China on Friday warned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned meeting with the Dalai Lama could hurt relations between the two countries.

"Currently relations between China and France, and Europe and China, are in the process of improving and developing, and this situation is the result of hard work. So we should cherish it," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

"We ask France to look at the big picture... pay attention to China's serious concerns and handle relevant issues properly to promote the stable development of Sino-French and European and Chinese relations."

Sarkozy is planning to met the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, next month during a visit to Poland. "We resolutely oppose foreign leaders having any form of contact with the Dalai Lama," Qin said.

China and France relations went through a rough patch this year when Sarkozy said his attendance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony was conditional on progress in talks between Beijing and Dalai Lama envoys on the future of Tibet.

He did attend the ceremony.

Protestors also disrupted the passage of the Olympic flame in several cities " including Paris " following unrest in Tibet, further damaging relations between China and France, although these have since improved.

The Dalai Lama has sought "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet since he fled his homeland following a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, nine years after Chinese troops invaded the region.

Meanwhile, the French foreign minister on Friday rejected Beijing's claim that relations between France and China will suffer if President Nicolas Sarkozy goes ahead with a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

"No, it is not a problem," Bernard Kouchner told reporters at a Russia-EU summit in Nice.

"I have already met him (the Dalai Lama) 20 times," he said, adding that he believed the French president was handling the issue "correctly."

Sarkozy himself sought Friday to play down the importance of the issue, saying that if the meeting "is a problem, that will be another opportunity for dialogue."

"I think the Chinese decision to relaunch (talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama on the future of Tibet)... is an extremely important one," he told reporters in Nice.

The Dalai Lama has already met French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, human rights minister Rama Yade and first lady Carla Bruni on a visit to France in August.

But Sarkozy declined a meeting with the Buddhist leader after Beijing warned that such direct contact would have serious consequences for bilateral relations.