Current affairs

Politiska statssekreteraren Teija Tiilikainen kallade Kinas ambassadör Ma Keqing till utrikesministeriet för att höras om händelserna i Tibet. Tiilikainen konstaterade vid mötet tisdagen den 18 mars att Finland är bekymrat över situationen.

Minister Paavo Väyrynen and Minister of Commerce Chen Deming of China hoped for closer economic relations between their countries. Minister Väyrynen had talks with his Chinese colleague on Monday, 28 January. The talks focused, in particular, on removal of trade barriers affecting Finnish exports in the environment sector. Environmental issues were also linked with discussions on bilateral Eco City plans, where Finnish know-how would be applied in Chinese “model cities”.

During his meeting on Monday, 11 September with Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Foreign Affairs of P. R. China, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja brought up the new regulations on the dissemination of information and expressed his concern over their restricting the free spread of information. Foreign Minister Tuomioja didn’t believe that the new regulations would represent a broader tightening of censorship, but he said that the situation will be followed closely.