Hu and Sarkozy set to meet to seal resumption of ties
France pledges not to support Tibet independence bid
Kristine Kwok 2 April 2009
President Hu Jintao is to meet his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, today after the two countries signed a communique restoring much-troubled bilateral ties to normality.
The communique released by both foreign ministries on their websites yesterday stressed the importance of the Tibet issue in bilateral ties, with France pledging that it would not support “any form of independence movement for Tibet”.
Both sides said they had agreed to resume high-level contacts and co-operation.
Both Mr. Hu and Mr. Sarkozy are attending the Group of 20 summit in London, but Beijing initially rejected the possibility of a meeting between them.
But the Associated Press cited French government spokesman Luc Chatel as saying a meeting would probably take place today on the sidelines of the summit.
Bilateral ties plummeted to a new low after Mr. Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in December despite strong protests from Beijing.
The central government, which regards the Buddhist leader as a separatist, was particularly angered because Mr. Sarkozy occupied the rotating European Union presidency at the time.
Beijing leaders have since taken a hardline approach that paralleled their treatment of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. It postponed a China-EU summit planned for December 1, and Premier Wen Jiabao and the Ministry of Commerce snubbed France in trips to Europe earlier this year.
In an apparent response to Chinese leaders’ repeated calls for France to address the Tibet issue, the communique said France “fully recognises the importance and sensitivity of the Tibet question”.
It added: “[France] reiterates that it upholds the one China policy, and that Tibet is an inseparable part of China.”
Singling out the Tibet issue is unusual in communiques between China and other countries because the focus is usually on the Taiwan issue. Analysts said that by agreeing to sign the communique, France had probably agreed not to host any meetings between its leader and the Dalai Lama.
While both countries need to mend battered ties for their own reasons, analysts said the G20 summit provided a good opportunity to kick-start the process.
“China needs France’s support for its proposals at the G20 summit; it needs help from more powerful western countries,” the director of Remin University’s Centre for European Studies, Zhang Xiaojing, said.
Professor Zhang said that the hardline approach was adopted partly in response to the Chinese public’s fierce reaction to Mr. Sarkozy meeting the Dalai Lama and the pro-Tibetan independence protests that marred the French leg of the Beijing Olympics torch relay.
“So Chinese had to make a gesture by not meeting the French leader ... but now it’s a good opportunity [to resume ties],” he said.
Zhao Chen, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, said that while France needed China’s trade partnership to help cope with the financial crisis, China also needed France’s support as a major western power and a key European Union member.
“Historically, France had been a friendly ally,” Dr Zhao said. “It was one of the first major western powers to establish diplomatic ties with China.”
Feng Zhongping, director of European studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, agreed that a consensus had probably been reached that the Dalai Lama would not be received by the French government in future.
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Hu and Sarkozy set to meet to seal resumption of ties
France pledges not to support Tibet independence bid
Kristine Kwok
2 April 2009
President Hu Jintao is to meet his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, today after the two countries signed a communique restoring much-troubled bilateral ties to normality.
The communique released by both foreign ministries on their websites yesterday stressed the importance of the Tibet issue in bilateral ties, with France pledging that it would not support “any form of independence movement for Tibet”.
Both sides said they had agreed to resume high-level contacts and co-operation.
Both Mr. Hu and Mr. Sarkozy are attending the Group of 20 summit in London, but Beijing initially rejected the possibility of a meeting between them.
But the Associated Press cited French government spokesman Luc Chatel as saying a meeting would probably take place today on the sidelines of the summit.
Bilateral ties plummeted to a new low after Mr. Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, in December despite strong protests from Beijing.
The central government, which regards the Buddhist leader as a separatist, was particularly angered because Mr. Sarkozy occupied the rotating European Union presidency at the time.
Beijing leaders have since taken a hardline approach that paralleled their treatment of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. It postponed a China-EU summit planned for December 1, and Premier Wen Jiabao and the Ministry of Commerce snubbed France in trips to Europe earlier this year.
In an apparent response to Chinese leaders’ repeated calls for France to address the Tibet issue, the communique said France “fully recognises the importance and sensitivity of the Tibet question”.
It added: “[France] reiterates that it upholds the one China policy, and that Tibet is an inseparable part of China.”
Singling out the Tibet issue is unusual in communiques between China and other countries because the focus is usually on the Taiwan issue. Analysts said that by agreeing to sign the communique, France had probably agreed not to host any meetings between its leader and the Dalai Lama.
While both countries need to mend battered ties for their own reasons, analysts said the G20 summit provided a good opportunity to kick-start the process.
“China needs France’s support for its proposals at the G20 summit; it needs help from more powerful western countries,” the director of Remin University’s Centre for European Studies, Zhang Xiaojing, said.
Professor Zhang said that the hardline approach was adopted partly in response to the Chinese public’s fierce reaction to Mr. Sarkozy meeting the Dalai Lama and the pro-Tibetan independence protests that marred the French leg of the Beijing Olympics torch relay.
“So Chinese had to make a gesture by not meeting the French leader ... but now it’s a good opportunity [to resume ties],” he said.
Zhao Chen, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of European Studies, said that while France needed China’s trade partnership to help cope with the financial crisis, China also needed France’s support as a major western power and a key European Union member.
“Historically, France had been a friendly ally,” Dr Zhao said. “It was one of the first major western powers to establish diplomatic ties with China.”
Feng Zhongping, director of European studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, agreed that a consensus had probably been reached that the Dalai Lama would not be received by the French government in future.
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