Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Chinese Ambassador to the Court of St James, Embassy
of the People's Republic of China
I am writing to inform you that in the past
two weeks, the Chinese Embassy was twice under attempted attacks
by the protesters who showed tendency of violence. I have lived
in the office for three days out of concern of the safety of my
staff and the Embassy. Thanks to the efficient London police,
the Embassy is safe. There is good understanding on the part of
the Foreign Office. We also appreciate the assurance made by Foreign
Secretary David Miliband during his telephone conversation with
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Tiechi I am sure things will get
better.
The Olympic torch was lit in Greece on 24 March.
Although the media here elaborated on the few seconds of the disturbance,
the ceremony was solemn and moving. The response of the Chinese
people has been very positive. The torch is arriving in London
on 6 April. The route was set according to the request of the
hosting country which would be responsible for the security. Though
disturbance is unavoidable, the Olympic spirit will carry on.
I understand you may be concerned with the situation
in Lhasa. I am especially disappointed with the series of misleading
and misrepresentative coverage of the event by the media here.
I have attached some examples.[6]
Representations were made in Beijing to the
media agencies concerned, including Times Bejjing Bureau. So far
Germany's RTL has openly apologized for its misrepresentation
in its website. N-TV is investigating on its own misreporting.
BBC has corrected its caption which referred to an ambulance as
"heavy military presence".
But they are not enough to change the biased
attitude of the media which is affecting the public views. I am
deeply concerned about the negative effect which will hurt the
feelings of people of both countries and affect the cooperation.
The challenge and difficulty make me more determined
to work for promoting understanding by people, not only those
who know China, but also those who do not know China well. I hope
I can count on your support.
In the meantime, I wish you would make your
judgment and take your political decision on balanced and complete
information.
Fu Ying
Chinese Ambassador to the Court of St James
24 March 2008
6 See Timesonline 17.3.08; The Times, 18.3.08; Sky
News, 22.3.08; BBC News 17.3.08 Back
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