Foreign Minister: Olympics and Tibet are not intertwined

Antara ,  Beijing   |  Sat, 05/17/2008 6:59 PM  |  National

The 2008 Olympics and the Tibetan affair should be seen as two separate issues, the government said.

"The government deems the Tibet issue and the Olympics are two different matters. The Olympics is an international sporting event," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told a media briefing in Beijing on Saturday.

According to Hassan, Indonesia's ties with China is based on the reciprocal principle of respect for a country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

"It is a concept contained in the United Nations Charter," he said, adding that the Tibet issue is an internal matter which he hopes the Chinese government will be able to solve through dialogue and negotiations.

"We respect the fact that such efforts have been taken by the Chinese government and Tibetan representatives," said Hassan, who in the trip is accompanied by a delegate of Indonesian entrepreneurs.

The minister's Beijing stop-over is part of his Central Asia official visit.

His next stop is Singapore, where he will be attending the ASEAN ministerial meeting on Myanmar.(*)

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