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| Tibet row puts off China-EU talks | Tibet row puts off China-EU talks |
| (21 minutes later) | |
| China has postponed a summit with the EU - planned for 1 December - amid tension over contacts with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. | China has postponed a summit with the EU - planned for 1 December - amid tension over contacts with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. |
| EU diplomats say China has been angered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to meet the Dalai Lama. France holds the EU's rotating presidency. | EU diplomats say China has been angered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to meet the Dalai Lama. France holds the EU's rotating presidency. |
| Mr Sarkozy has said he will meet the Dalai Lama in Poland on 6 December. | Mr Sarkozy has said he will meet the Dalai Lama in Poland on 6 December. |
| A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said "we oppose any foreign leaders having any contact with the Dalai". | A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said "we oppose any foreign leaders having any contact with the Dalai". |
| The spokesman, Qin Gang, was speaking to reporters in Beijing on Tuesday. The Chinese government has previously said Mr Sarkozy risks losing "hard-won" gains in ties with Beijing if he meets the Dalai Lama. | |
| The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, after Chinese troops had crushed an uprising by pro-independence Tibetans. | |
| Beijing says Tibet has been part of the Chinese nation since the 13th Century. | |
| Many Tibetans disagree, pointing out that the Himalayan region was an independent kingdom for many centuries, and that Chinese rule over Tibet has not been constant. |