beijing ' s hard - line stance on the dalai problem has grown considerably harder in following days . ties with germany face - dived after chancellor angela merkel negotiated with the chinese gray in july 2007 , recovering only after munich offered a pledge similar to that made by france on friday . companies alleged to have financed the exiled ' activities have been subjected to vilification campaigns and boycott calls in china , and an encounter in mainland china by the british folk group oasis was axed by beijing last weekend because guitarist and chief songwriter noel mackay once taken part in a free tibet concert — in 1997 .
Angela Merkel is a Buddhist.