At the
UN, Belgium's Karel De Gucht Is Asked Of Dalai Lama's Cancelled Visit
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED NATIONS, May
14 -- Belgian foreign minister Karel De Gucht came to UN Headquarters on Monday,
to speak he said of Darfur, of Kosovo and the Congo. Only days before, the Dalai
Lama had cancelled a planned trip to Belgium after begin told by Karel De Gucht
that China was opposed to the trip.
Inner
City Press asked Karel De Gucht four questions on Monday, including the relation
if any to Belgian Prince Filip's upcoming trade trip to China. Video
here,
from Minute 18:11.
Karel De
Gucht said that the Dalai Lama had been "perfectly free to come to Belgium,"
that "he decided not to because he doesn't want to be implicated in bilateral
relations."
But is
it Belgian policy to inform third parties of other people's applications for
visas to visit Belgium?
"We have
regular meetings with China in Brussels," Karel De Gucht said.
What
is the relation to the trade trip of Prince Filip?
Karel De
Gucht, after first asking, "what is your question?" went on to advise Inner City
Press to "ask my Chinese counterpart... what you can ask me is if we gave the
visa, and we did."
Then
Karel De Gucht walked away from the UN microphone. Other media reported on the
exchange, click
here for one example.
But still unanswered: was the understanding on April 14, with the visa was
issued in Delhi, that Belgium would let the Dalai Lama know that to actually use
the visa would cause bilateral problems between Belgium and China?
Belgium's
King Albert II, Ban Ki-moon and Karel De Gucht, over Mr. Ban's left shoulder,
Dalai Lama not shown
AP
reports that "Russia and South Korea have prohibited the Dalai Lama from even
transiting their countries in deference to Beijing." Other countries have
recently been advised by Beijing to be on alert to visits from the Dalai Lama,
or presumably any other "splittist." While the U.S., for example, once blocked
and thereafter discouraged any visa application from officials of the de facto
republic of Akbhazia, Georgia, there is a recognition that as the host country
of the UN, the U.S. often has a visa-granting duty. What are Belgium's duties,
as seat of the UN?
. This is
an issue we will follow. Karel De Gucht made a point of denying that Rwanda or
Burundi were ever Belgian colonies; rather they were awarded as trusteeships
under the League of Nations. Belgium owns no moral debt, but chooses to help, he
said. Asked about Kosovo, Karel De Gucht predicted that the issue will be acted
on by the Security Council during Belgium's upcoming Council presidency. Watch
this site.
One
UN diplomat asked after the exchange, given Belgium's recent actions, how much
weight can what is says of its commitment to Darfur be given? Time will tell.
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