By IRNA
Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday expressed concern over the violence in Tibet, urging restraint by Chinese security forces and Tibetan demonstrators.
“It does not matter from which side violence comes, it will not lead to solutions to the outstanding issues,” Merkel was quoted saying on the official homepage of the German government.
Chinese authorities on Saturday deployed troops and tanks in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, demanding that Tibetan rioters surrender to police or face more serious punishment for the violence that claimed at least 10 lives in the wake escalating pro-independence protests.
The German leader whose meeting with the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama in Berlin last September triggered a major political row with China, reiterated the need for a ‘peaceful and direct dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama in a bid to find a sustainable solution to the question of Tibet’.
Germany is still committed to religious and cultural autonomy for the Himalayan territory but also supports the one-China policy and rejects any separatist moves, Merkel was cited saying by her chief spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm.
Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry issued a travel alert for Tibet on Friday as a result of the political clashes.