Merkel talks Iran, human rights on China trip

BEIJING, May 22: German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised divisive issues of Iran and human rights at meetings in Beijing today after her trip got off to an unexpectedly relaxed start strolling in the park with Premier Wen Jiabao.

In her first visit to China as chancellor, Merkel is also expected to witness a series of deals between the two countries, whose bilateral trade reached 63.2 billion dollars last year, making Germany China's largest trading partner in the European Union.

Merkel said she and Wen agreed that Iran should not have nuclear weapons capability, but gave no hint as to whether she was any closer to forging consensus with Beijing over how to convince Tehran to halt its atomic research.

''We talked about Iran and both agreed Iran should not have the capability to make nuclear weapons and shouldn't proliferate weapons of mass destruction,'' Merkel told reporters.

Western powers, which believe Iran is aiming to make nuclear weapons, are seeking stronger measures like sanctions to persuade it stop its research. China and Russia, veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, have opposed tougher action.

Merkel, who in opposition was critical of efforts to scrap a European Union ban on arms sales to Beijing, also raised the issue of human rights and said she would continue to do so in future meetings.

''I have made it clear that human rights are indivisible,'' she said.

She also won a pledge from Wen to strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, a chronic irritant in trade relations, and said she wanted to step up cooperation with China in the field of energy.

German officials say Merkel would probably urge officials to allow the yuan to appreciate further, after China took tentative steps last summer to permit more flexibility in the currency.

Despite the list of thorny issues Merkel was addressing, the two-day trip that will take her to Shanghai Tomorrow got off to a surprisingly personal start.

In a departure from China's usually stern protocol, Merkel took an early morning stroll in the park with Wen, who was dressed casually in an open shirt, and then joined the premier for a private breakfast.

The walk, during which Merkel chatted with locals doing tai chi morning exercises and Wen kicked around a shuttlecock, was at Wen's personal invitation, a German official said, after China expressed regret she did not visit sooner after taking over as chancellor six months ago.

The two later signed a series of agreements, including a framework agreement between China Mobile Communications Corp. and Siemens AG on purchasing equipment from the German industrial conglomerate, and a memorandum of understanding to establish high-speed rail transportation in China.

Reuters