German scholar, net surfers discuss Lhasa riot

BERLIN—— A German expert on China said on Tuesday that no country in the world could allow demonstrators with such high potential of violence to rally in its big city without deploying police or armed forces.
Eberhand Sandschneider, director of the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations made the remarks while discussing the Tibet issue with net users in online chat rooms of German’s ARD TV. Asked what he thought the German government should react if China supports the independence of the southern German state of Bavaria, Sandschneider said the German government will make the same reaction if necessary. The German Government must reject with emphasis any interference in its internal affairs.
If demonstrators go on the rampage on May 1 in Berlin’s district of Kreuzberg, vandalizing shops, setting cars on fire, the German authorities would also take rigorous action resolutely, Sandschneider said. “It is important not just to look at China in a know-it-all manner, we should also hold up a mirror to ourselves occasionally...So what I really try to do is to suggest a change of perspective, which would hopefully lead to the conclusion that one-sided observation is not helpful and taking a solely critical view of the action by the Chinese forces may miss the fact,” Sandschneider added.
On the same day, online discussions on the issue were also held on the website of the Cologne-based Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcaster. “I think the approach of the (Chinese) government is not so bad. What country would act differently if territorial integrity is threatened,” a 27-year-old net user who registered as Andy Duisberg said. Certainly there are problems in China with human rights, Duisberg said, but it is a great achievement of the (Chinese) government to hold such a large country with all ethnic groups living together, Duisberg said.

—Xinhua