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Friday 27 February 2009
Artefacts’ sale will do nothing to help Sino-French ties
The auction of the controversial Qing dynasty bronze figures in Paris on Wednesday will probably slow repairs to the tattered Sino-French relationship, say mainland analysts.
Artefacts’ sale will do nothing to help Sino-French ties
Kristine Kwok in Beijing 27 February 2009
The auction of the controversial Qing dynasty bronze figures in Paris on Wednesday will probably slow repairs to the tattered Sino-French relationship, say mainland analysts.
The sale of the two animal heads, which Beijing says were looted from the Old Summer Palace 150 years ago together with numerous other precious relics, stirred heated discussion on the internet.
Many nationalistic netizens renewed calls to boycott French goods, with some even vowing to shun products by Yves Saint Laurent, the late French designer who owned the figures. The auction house, Christie’s, also came under attack from both the public and the government.
Although the issue has not escalated into a diplomatic spat, analysts said it would “add salt to the wounds” of the Sino-French relationship, which was already badly damaged by French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama and his criticisms of China last year.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday refrained from commenting on the sale of the bronze rabbit and rat heads. Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu has said previously that the relics should be returned to China.
So far, the strongest comments on the sale have come from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Liu Jiansheng, a research fellow with the European division of the China Institute of International Studies, said the Foreign Ministry’s response showed that Beijing was trying to prevent the issue from becoming a diplomatic matter.
However, Zhao Chen, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, said the decision by a French court to allow the auction to go ahead and the remarks on Tibet by the statues’ co-owner highlighted an ideological divide between China and France that was so wide, it would take a long time to bridge.
“This incident is like adding salt to the wound. It will slow down the efforts over the past few months to rebuild Sino-French ties,” Dr Zhao said, referring to former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s visit to Beijing last month.
Pierre Berge, long-time partner of Saint Laurent and a co-owner of the animal heads, had said he would return the relics to China only if Beijing granted freedom to Tibet. Mr. Berge is an advocate of human rights and aided dissidents involved in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
His remarks immediately drew criticism from Beijing and on the internet.
Despite growing economic power, China’s image in Europe, especially in “freedom-loving” France, remained low, Dr Zhao said.
“The last time German Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, China sought France’s help to chastise Germany. This time around, they think China is seeking Germany’s help to do the same to France. The French people are quite annoyed by this strategy,” he said. “From this incident we can see anti-Chinese sentiment is still very high in France.”
To make things worse, the financial crisis had given birth to a growing sense of protectionism, Dr Zhao said.
Premier Wen Jiabao has admitted he intentionally skipped France during his European tour late last month.
A delegation from the Ministry of Commerce also snubbed France in a shopping trip to the European Union. On Wednesday in Berlin, the delegation led by Commerce Minister Chen Deming signed 37 procurement deals with German companies worth about €11 billion (HK$109 billion).
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Artefacts’ sale will do nothing to help Sino-French ties
Kristine Kwok in Beijing
27 February 2009
The auction of the controversial Qing dynasty bronze figures in Paris on Wednesday will probably slow repairs to the tattered Sino-French relationship, say mainland analysts.
The sale of the two animal heads, which Beijing says were looted from the Old Summer Palace 150 years ago together with numerous other precious relics, stirred heated discussion on the internet.
Many nationalistic netizens renewed calls to boycott French goods, with some even vowing to shun products by Yves Saint Laurent, the late French designer who owned the figures. The auction house, Christie’s, also came under attack from both the public and the government.
Although the issue has not escalated into a diplomatic spat, analysts said it would “add salt to the wounds” of the Sino-French relationship, which was already badly damaged by French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama and his criticisms of China last year.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday refrained from commenting on the sale of the bronze rabbit and rat heads. Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu has said previously that the relics should be returned to China.
So far, the strongest comments on the sale have come from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Liu Jiansheng, a research fellow with the European division of the China Institute of International Studies, said the Foreign Ministry’s response showed that Beijing was trying to prevent the issue from becoming a diplomatic matter.
However, Zhao Chen, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, said the decision by a French court to allow the auction to go ahead and the remarks on Tibet by the statues’ co-owner highlighted an ideological divide between China and France that was so wide, it would take a long time to bridge.
“This incident is like adding salt to the wound. It will slow down the efforts over the past few months to rebuild Sino-French ties,” Dr Zhao said, referring to former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s visit to Beijing last month.
Pierre Berge, long-time partner of Saint Laurent and a co-owner of the animal heads, had said he would return the relics to China only if Beijing granted freedom to Tibet. Mr. Berge is an advocate of human rights and aided dissidents involved in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
His remarks immediately drew criticism from Beijing and on the internet.
Despite growing economic power, China’s image in Europe, especially in “freedom-loving” France, remained low, Dr Zhao said.
“The last time German Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama, China sought France’s help to chastise Germany. This time around, they think China is seeking Germany’s help to do the same to France. The French people are quite annoyed by this strategy,” he said. “From this incident we can see anti-Chinese sentiment is still very high in France.”
To make things worse, the financial crisis had given birth to a growing sense of protectionism, Dr Zhao said.
Premier Wen Jiabao has admitted he intentionally skipped France during his European tour late last month.
A delegation from the Ministry of Commerce also snubbed France in a shopping trip to the European Union. On Wednesday in Berlin, the delegation led by Commerce Minister Chen Deming signed 37 procurement deals with German companies worth about €11 billion (HK$109 billion).
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