Beijing denounces honor for Dalai

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-09 23:24

BEIJING - The municipal government of Beijing, sister city of Paris, voiced Tuesday its "strong discontent" and "firm opposition" that Paris had honored the 14th Dalai Lama.

"We strongly demand the municipal authorities of Paris take concrete actions to correct the wrongdoing so as to avoid harming the friendly ties between the two cities," the Beijing municipal government said in a statement.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe made the 14th Dalai Lama an "honorary citizen" of the French capital Sunday. The Dalai Lama has long been criticized by the Chinese government for attempting to split Tibet from Chinese territory.

"Such a move by the city of Paris is a gross interference in China's internal affairs and an open provocation against the 16 million citizens of Beijing and 1.3 billion Chinese at large. It severely hurt the feelings of the Beijing people and the whole of the Chinese people," the Beijing municipal government said.

Beijing and Paris became sister cities on October 23, 1997.