Showing posts with label meeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meeting. Show all posts
Thursday, February 18, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama told the Dalai Lama of his “strong support" for preservation of Tibet’s identity today and encouraged talks between the exiled leader and China.
After private White House talks between the pair, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the President had stated support for “the preservation of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and the protection of human rights for Tibetans" in China.
“The President commended the Dalai Lama’s ’Middle Way’ approach, his commitment to nonviolence and his pursuit of dialogue with the Chinese government,” Mr Gibbs added.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, the Dalai Lama declared himself “very happy" and said Mr Obama was “very much supportive.” >>> | Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama is expected to meet the Dalai Lama in private at the White House on Thursday, aides to the Tibetan spiritual leader said.
Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's chief envoy, said the meeting between the Nobel Peace laureates, even if out of the public eye, would be an important boost for Tibet and for the broader US commitment to human rights.
A joint appearance by Mr Obama and the Dalai Lama could make tense US-China ties even worse and further complicate American efforts to secure Chinese help in settling North Korean and Iranian nuclear standoffs and crucial economic, military and environmental problems. >>> | Wednesday, February 17, 2010
L’EXPRESS.fr: Le président américain doit rencontrer jeudi le dalai lama qui arrive aux Etats-Unis ce mardi. La preuve qu'il compte bien changer la position des Etats-Unis face à Pékin, selon Mathieu Duchâtel, chercheur de l'Asia Centre à Sciences Po Paris.
En octobre dernier, Barack Obama évitait de rencontrer le dalai-lama, qui arrive de nouveau sur le sol américain ce mardi. Leur entretien prévu ce jeudi - et qui suscite déjà l'ire de Pékin - ne devrait pas tomber à l'eau. Comment expliquer ce contraste?
Depuis son entrée en fonction, en janvier 2009, le président américain a mis son pays en position d'attente vis-à-vis de la Chine. Souvenez-vous, en novembre dernier, lors de sa visite à Pékin, le président américain a présenté aux Chinois une longue liste de demandes de coopération dans une multitude de dossiers: Iran, Afghanistan et Pakistan, régulation financière, changement climatique... Pour faciliter la négociation, Barack Obama a omis d'évoquer les questions sensibles comme Taïwan, le Tibet et les droits de l'homme.
Qu'a-t-il obtenu? Des critiques en interne, aucun accord chinois sur l'Iran, ou encore des négociations qui se sont mal passées entre les deux délégations au sommet de Copenhague, si l'on en croit le New York Times... Un an plus tard, cette politique n'est donc plus tenable pour Obama. >>> Par Marie Simon | Mardi 16 Février 2010
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Bill Clinton, who flew into North Korea today on a surprise mission to secure the release of two American journalists, was taken from the airport into a rare face-to-face meeting with the regime’s “Dear Leader”, Kim Jong Il.
The unexpected summit meeting has raised hopes across the region that North Korea may soon be enticed back to multinational disarmament talks after three months of mounting atomic tensions and provocation.
North Korea’s official news agency reported that Mr Clinton and Mr Kim engaged in “sincere and exhaustive discussions” on a range of issues and that the former US president came armed for his encounter with a “courteously conveyed” personal message from Barack Obama. The White House quickly denied there had ever been such a message.
In another striking break with tradition, footage of Mr Clinton’s arrival and images of his meeting with Mr Kim were aired almost immediately on North Korea’s tightly-controlled state television channel – an indication, said close observers of North Korea, of how the visit will likely be used by the regime to parade its out-manoeuvring of the US.
It appears that the groundwork for the talks were well-laid and that Mr Clinton is likely to return to the US with the two journalists in tow on Wednesday. Although nominally carried out in a private capacity, Mr Clinton’s visit is believed to have the double purpose of both freeing Laura Ling and Euna Lee from their sentence of 12 years hard labour and of bringing North Korea back to the negotiating table on nuclear weapons.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have deteriorated rapidly since May after the unpredictable regime test-fired what it said was a nuclear device and declared the six party” multinational disarmament talks with South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, America “dead in the water”.
The Pyongyang state news agency put what experts said was a predictable spin on the visit, declaring that Mr Clinton had first appealed for the release of the two American prisoners and then for the opportunity to meet Mr Kim – a request that was graciously granted. >>> Leo Lewis | Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Thatcher, whose first Papal visit was more than 30 years ago, has been introduced to Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
The meeting took place after the Pope's weekly audience in St Peter's Square. Lady Thatcher, was dressed in black as she had been on her first visit in 1977, with a dark handbag and star shaped brooch.
They talked for several minutes and Lady Thatcher encouraged the Pope to accept the invitation from Gordon Brown to visit Britain. The first Pope to visit Britain was John Paul II who came in 1982 at the time of the Falklands War.
Before she met the Pope Lady Thatcher laid a wreath of white roses on the tomb in the Vatican of John Paul II with a card which said: " To a man of faith and courage." Lady Thatcher's relationship with the former Polish cardinal was politically close. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Wednesday, May 27, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Thatcher to Meet Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican
Baroness Thatcher is to have a private audience with the Pope at the Vatican next week.
The former Prime Minister is flying to Italy on Frdiay to stay with Carla Powell whose husband Charles was her foreign policy adviser at Downing Street.
Lady Powell, who lives in a villa on the outskirts of Rome, arranged the meeting with Pope Benedict XVI which will take place in the Vatican on Wednesday. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Friday, May 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
YNET NEWS: Former ambassador to Geneva chides Swiss president for meeting with Iranian president, says country cannot remain neutral in the face of Holocaust denial. Historian Arieh Kochavi explains why Switzerland's neutrality serves its long-term interests
Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz justified his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, asserting to his critics that Switzerland is maintaining its neutrality.
The neutrality card failed, however, to win over at least one skeptic, Israel's former ambassador to Geneva, Yitzhak Meir.
"It was impossible to remain neutral in the face of the evil of World War II, and it is impossible to remain neutral in the face of Ahmadinejad," Meir told Ynet.
"As a friend of Switzerland, I believe that the president was mistaken in his understanding of the average citizen's stance in Switzerland today," said Meir, who dispatched a letter to Merz's office in Berne.
"I wrote to him that what he did wasn't just wrong, it was a gross error. I regret this, and it pains me as a man who has seen the other sides of Switzerland."
The former ambassador believes that Switzerland has yet to understand that the neutrality it aspires to is not feasible.
"The committee that Switzerland formed after WWII acknowledged the fact that the country carried out a role that the Swiss couldn't forgive themselves for. They couldn't come to terms with what occurred in their country in the name of 'neutrality' – their policies regarding Jewish refugees. And here, once more the issue of neutrality is on the table."
Meir emphasized that Switzerland does not deny the Holocaust like Ahmadinejad and his ilk, but added that this is what makes the meeting so problematic.
"Holocaust deniers will be able to use the meeting despite Switzerland's stance. This meeting is grave because it creates a sort of banality and laicization of the Swiss attempt not to forget the Holocaust. I see President Merz's choice as an anti-Swiss act." >>> Yael Levy | Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
BBC: Iran has denied that a meeting took place between their main representative at an international conference on Afghanistan and a senior US official.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said that Richard Holbrooke and Mohammad Mehdi Akhoondzadeh had an informal but "cordial exchange".
She said the US had given the Iranian delegates a letter, but Iran's foreign ministry "categorically" denied this.
The US had welcomed Iran's presence at the meeting as a "promising sign".
On Tuesday, Mrs Clinton said that Mr Holbrooke and Mr Akhoondzadeh had had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the conference in the Hague.
She said the meeting had been unplanned but that the men had agreed to "stay in touch". >>> | Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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