In the Tibet Commission, the trip on Friday came for questioning by Christian Kettel Thomsen, who was head of department in the Ministry of State from 2010 to 2020.
He is confronted, among other things, with the Chinese president’s state visit to Denmark in 2012. On the street, police ripped Tibetan flags out of the hands of peaceful citizens, and a demonstration was kept hidden.
The Commission is trying to find out if the police received instructions and calls from, for example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the illegal interventions.
Two days before the visit, the Chinese embassy again put pressure on Danish officials.
They were asked to shield the delegation from “insulting” demonstrations by, for example, the Falun Gong religious movement. “The overall impression was very important when the result of the visit was made up by the Chinese side,” the minutes state.
– It was a kind of completely hidden threat, says Christian Kettel Thomsen during the interrogation.
The Commission’s questioner is puzzled by the word threat – and wants to hear whether there was a requirement or an expectation in it?
– I do not remember thinking much about it. I do not think it has made a big impression, says the former head of department.
Several emails testify that the State Department was preoccupied with the Chinese concerns. But it did not characterize the Prime Minister’s Office, it sounds.
– There were others who were good at organizing everything outside the visit. We dealt with what affected the Prime Minister’s meeting with the President, says Christian Kettel Thomsen.
The Tibet Commission has discovered an email that had otherwise been deleted. It was from the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Claus Grube.
Shortly after the renewed pressure, he wrote to his colleagues that PET and a police director should be given an understanding of their important roles. “No face loss!”, The message read.
When Christian Kettel Thomsen is asked what an important role it was that PET and the police should understand, he pauses, says hm – and then continues:
– The police are very involved and have many tasks in connection with the visit, is not that what he writes?
What could the intention be?
– It is a remarkable email in light of the main theme we are dealing with here. But it is also the case that Claus sometimes spreads his arms and writes a statement, which is not an instruction, says Kettel Thomsen.
He adds that the email could probably have been written differently and that the wording is not good.
Next week, former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, among others, will be questioned.
Fuente: La página nórdica