Dalai Visits Germany; China Irked

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet today with the Dalai Lama, even as China responded by canceling meetings in Munich. The Chinese government, which governs Tibet, derided the meeting as part of the Dalai Lama's agenda to promote Tibetan independence. BBC reports the Germans were unmoved: "The meeting will take place, the invitation stands, and the chancellor extended the invitation very consciously."

Today's meeting, part of a series of talks Merkel is holding with world religious figures, will mark the Dalai Lama's first visit with Munich. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader dismissed China's complaint as more of the same: "Wherever I go, China protests. The Chinese are simply testing how far they can go." (More Germany stories.)