The probable Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States, John McCain, said Friday in Paris that the treatment of Tibetans by Chinese authorities was unacceptable. ( dpa )
"Human rights should be respected, in Tibet or anywhere else in the world," McCain said after a one-hour meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The treatment of the Tibetans was "not acceptable on the part of a world power like China."
The stopover in Paris was part of a whistlestop foreign tour by the Arizona senator to demonstrate statesmanship qualities ahead of the November election. Previous stops on the trip included Israel, Jordan, Iraq and London.
In Paris, McCain also congratulated France on its commitment to the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He refused to comment about the unauthorized examination by US State Department contract employees of the passport files of Barack Obama, who could be his Democratic opponent for the presidency. McCain was apparently unaware that his own passport files had also been accessed.