Protests mark Jiang's German visit

Jiang with Germany's Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin.

BERLIN, China -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin held talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as demonstrators criticizing Beijing's human rights record were kept behind police lines.

Jiang, in Germany until April 13, hopes to use the five-day visit to strengthen relations with Germany -- China's biggest trading partner in Europe -- with deals for educational and cultural cooperation.

But groups critical of China's human rights record and its handling of religious communities -- such as the Falun Gong spiritual sect and ethnic minorities like the Tibetans and the Muslim Uighurs from northwestern Xinjiang -- demonstrated on Tuesday behind police lines.

The protesters were kept several hundred meters away from the chancellery, nearly out of sight of the arriving motorcade.

Scores of Falun Gong members meditated en masse outside the grand Adlon hotel in central Berlin. Wearing yellow jerseys, they performed exercises and meditated beneath banners reading "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance," "Stop the persecution of Falun Gong."

"We have two goals -- to show the public that Jiang Zemin is responsible for the oppression of the Falun Gong and for Jiang to stop torturing practitioners," one member, Zhihong Zheng, told Reuters news agency.

Schroeder has so far avoided saying whether he will raise human rights issues in their talks.

Hard line

CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

In interviews with German media before his visit, Jiang stuck to his hard line on the Falun Gong, which China outlawed and declared an evil cult in 1999.

Kathi Epprecht of the German Tibet Support Group, which backs Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, said the demonstrations were about boosting the public profile of the various causes critical of China's human rights record.

"We hope in a peaceful way to achieve something during the lifetime of the Dalai Lama. I don't know what will happen in the political talks but you have to keep trying and hopefully gain some publicity for the cause," Epprecht told Reuters.

China occupied Tibet in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese occupation in 1959.

Asgar Can, general secretary of the East Turkestan National Congress, an umbrella organization for Muslim Uighurs in 14 countries, said he hoped Schroeder would address the way the "war on terrorism" was being used to justify oppression in Xinjiang.

"Germany has a reputation for backing human rights. But if Schroeder says nothing for economic reasons, what's going on? Is human rights only an issue with weaker countries?" he said.

Amnesty International accused China last month of stepping up repression and executions of separatist Muslim Uighurs by invoking the "war on terrorism."

Earlier on Tuesday, Jiang met German President Johannes Rau and the two discussed closer cultural ties between the countries.

The Chinese premier was due to visit carmaker Volkswagen AG, which has a joint venture with China's biggest auto maker First Automotive Works.

Berlin marks the start of a five-nation tour that will also take Jiang to Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia and Iran.