President of France Sarkozy sends message of friendship to China after Olympic torch fiasco
April 23, 2008
The relationship of France and China, overshadowed by Tibet in run-up to Beijing Olympics, is target of damage control by French President and ex-Prime Minister.
Former Prime Minister of France Jean-Pierre Raffarin arrives Thursday in China to meet Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, and Nicolas Sarkozy’s personal envoy, David Levitte, is due to arrive this weekend. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy sent along a biography of French war hero and former president of France Charles de Gaulle as a gift for his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao as a peace offering to ease tensions in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
De Gaulle’s decision to formally recognise the Communist Peoples’ Republic of China in 1964, despite US opposition, laid the foundation for modern-day relations between the two countries.Raffarin’s trip is a long-scheduled visit, but comes as France tries to repair its damaged relations with China following protests in France during the Olympic torch relay.
Demonstrators in France and around the world have been disrupting the torch’s progress to protest Chinese action in Tibet. France itself is considering boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing for the same reason.Opinion polls in France show strong sympathy for the Tibetan cause and support for a boycott of the Games’ opening ceremony by Sarkozy, although not of the Games themselves.
On Monday, the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, named the Dalai Lama an honorary citizen of the French capital, further inflaming the government of China, which considers the Dalai Lama a revolutionary trying to divide China.
Protestors in France along the torch route managed to breach security and force the torch to divert its course several times, even harassing Jin Jing, a disabled Chinese athlete in a wheelchair who was one of the torchbearers. She has become a national hero in China for fighting off the French protestors.”It is understandable that the Chinese people feel hurt. I strongly condemn what they did,” said President of France Nicolas Sarkozy.
Those behind “this painful incident” were not representative of the friendship between China and France, he said, inviting Jin to France.France may be protesting against China, but people in China are also voicing their own grievances against France. In Beijing, a dozen cars waving the Chinese flag and bearing the slogan “Tibet is China” drove around in front of the French embassy before police closed off the street.
Across China, Internet chat rooms buzz with angry talk of punishing France and firms thought to support the Dalai Lama. Boycotts of French companies and products from France like wines, which are popular in China, are under hot discussion.
Carrefour, the biggest supermarket and retail chain in France, comparable to Wal-Mart in the US, is a particular target. The French chain, which has 122 stores in China, had been accused of supporting Tibet’s Dalai Lama — something the company has strongly denied. Several thousand Chinese people gathered on Saturday in Paris, London, Berlin and Los Angeles to rally in support of China and against what they see as the biased media coverage of the Olympic torch relay and unrest in Tibet.
In Paris, up to 4,000 pro-Chinese protesters gathered, waving Chinese flags and chanting “Beijing Olympic Games.”France has become the focus of general anti-Western feelings in China as preparations for the Beijing Olympics are overshadowed by the issue of human rights and Tibet following a brutal crackdown on pro-independence protests there in March.
Sarkozy is to make his final decision regarding the participation of France in the Opening Ceremonies this July. Raffarin has said he would attend, but Sarkozy’s appearance is still up in the air.
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.