Too Busy to Meet

Despite having the meeting with China's finance minister arranged for some time as part of his trip to the Far East from Dec. 1-8, Steinbrück was told that, due to the "very busy schedule of the new Chinese finance minister," Xie Xuren would have no time to see him.

The German Foreign Ministry said Steinbrück's trip to China would be rescheduled for the second quarter of next year and that the Far East trip, during which he was also scheduled to visit Tokyo and Seoul, had been cancelled.

It is the latest in a series of high-level meetings with German officials that the Chinese have delayed or cancelled since Chancellor Angela Merkel held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama on Sept. 29.

China vigorously protested the Tibetan leader's visit beforehand and reacted sharply afterwards by cutting contact with German officials.

Dalia Lama visit leads to cooling of relations

Beijing had previously pulled out of a planned meeting in October of world powers on the Iranian nuclear crisis in Berlin, forcing its cancellation. China also axed an annual event scheduled for December in Beijing to discuss human rights and called off a Germany-China symposium scheduled for late September in Munich, citing "technical reasons."

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman last week said Germany bore the responsibility to rectify "the negative impact of its erroneous act."

China views the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist agitating for independence for Tibet and has made clear its disapproval of any world leader holding an audience with him.

Last month, the Dalai Lama met with US President George W. Bush in Washington, where the US Congress gave him the Congressional Gold Medal -- its highest civilian award.

China issued similar threats of damaged ties with Australia after Prime Minister John Howard met with the Dalai Lama in June. But Chinese President Hu Jintao then travelled to Australia, a visit that saw the two nations sign lucrative trade deals.

However, China's ties with Germany appear to have suffered the most.

In addition to the visit of the Dalai Lama, Germany and China have been at odds over allegations of cyber espionage by hackers allegedly in the employ of the People's Republic. There have also been spats over trade standards and criticism from Germany on China's human rights and environmental record.