China denies visa to German legislator for pro-Tibetan remarks

Michael Brand, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag, is not welcome to China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, defending Beijing’s move to deny him a visa.

Brand’s position of backing “Tibetan independence” is against Germany’s one-China policy, Lu said on Thursday.

Brand was denied permission to visit China purely because of his position on Tibet, not for his comments on the human rights situation in China, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Brand, who reportedly criticised China’s human rights record, sought a clear response from the German Foreign Ministry about the denial of visa to him.

Lu said the Chinese Embassy in Germany and relevant departments have done a lot of work preparing for the visit of the Human Rights Committee of the Federal German Parliament.

“The German government knows that very well. The remarks by the specific person you mentioned are calling white black,” Lu said. 

“He cannot come because he blatantly breached the commitment of the German government to the “one China” policy and stuck his heels in advocating “Tibet independence” which is so wrong,” he said.