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Sarkozy is China's fair-weather friend

By Li Hongmei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-07-04 14:34

No president in the world's political arena could bear more praise and abuse than French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

When he took office in May last year, he enjoyed tremendous popularity among the French voters, as his reform ambitions conveyed a message of hope to them in the face of the country's slumbering economy.

Unfortunately, President Sarkozy's approval ratings has since been plummeting and even hit a record low in April, driven by escalating economic problems in France such as soaring living and fuel costs and severe inflation.

Meanwhile, his image as the head of a state has been marred by his indecent public appearance and behavior, and his private life with his now wife, model and singer Carla Bruni depicted by critics as a 'soap opera'.

President Sarkozy was again bogged down in diplomatic trouble recently by his careless remarks, which the Chinese people believe are "extremely unfriendly", and observers think his gesture of setting conditions for his attendance at the Beijing Olympics shows his immaturity as a politician.

An online poll was conducted by Sina.com.cn on July 2 in response to Sarkozy's threat to boycott the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony, as he said the day before his attendance would depend on the progress of the latest talks between the Chinese government and the private representatives of the Dalai Lama. He added he would announce his decision next week, during the G8 Summit in Japan.

More than 89 percent of the 173,527 respondents had voted against Sarkozy's attendance at the Olympic opening ceremony. Many netizens posted their opinions on the website's forum saying Sarkozy will be the most unpopular politician even if he shows up at the ceremony.

"Sarkozy is waiting to see if there is any progress made at the meeting between the representatives of the central government and the Dalai Lama before deciding if he should attend the Olympics? Does he even know how foolish he looks in the eyes of anyone with any ounce of intelligence? I just hope that not all the French are a joke like their leader," a netizen named Peter wrote.

"We Chinese people say 'no' to Sarkozy and those countries who want to use this sports event as political chip to impose unfair conditions on China," Katie, another netizen remarked.

Many Chinese scholars also deem Sarkozy's inconsistent treatment towards China is not up to the standard of a thoughtful and responsible statesman. "Sarkozy's gesture of bargaining for his attendance at the Olympics is an unfriendly move toward china. It shows his immaturity and carelessness as a politician," said Wu Yikang, Chairman of Shanghai Institute of European Studies.

The Olympic Summer Games is a celebratory venue for athletes, regardless of their race, gender, political and religious belief, to compete, share, communicate, enjoy and make friends. As the International Olympic Committee charter manifests, it should never be turned into a political arena, and many statesmen agree.

Le Figaro, a popular French newspaper, recently published an opinion piece on Sarkozy, saying his political stance defies analysis, because he turns out not to be a "neo-conservative" as he proclaimed. He has been wavering in between "right" and "left", said the article. It also cited the public opinion on Sarkozy's domestic and international policies, saying many French do not believe the ongoing policies are in the best interests of France and its people.

Sarkozy's negative attitudes toward China, his government's groundless condemnation against China and the biased reporting of some French media on China since the March 14 Lhasa riots triggered an anti-China campaign in April during the Paris leg of Beijing Olympic torch relay, and also sparked the unprecedented surge in patriotism among the Chinese both at home and overseas, resulting not only in the tarnished international image of France but also threatened the traditionally friendly ties between the two countries.

Sarkozy publicly claimed he would like to meet with the Dalai Lama on many occasions, which goes against the well-accepted diplomatic principles of no interference in other countries' internal affairs.

In a backdrop of globalization and economic integration, whatever Sarkozy has thus far done is totally misleading, and may help explain why his popularity has been on a downward trend. France took over the European Union rotating presidency on July 1 and for the next six months will lead the EU Council. If Sarkozy continues to hold this prejudice against China, relations between China and EU would be harmed.

Joerg Wuttke, President of EU Chamber of Commerce in China, was quoted as saying, "It is a pity that China and France had been good friends. The side effects brought on by Sarkozy's precondition for attending Beijing Olympics could be worrisome, simply because the Chinese finger pointing Sarkozy would bring trouble to EU, now that Europe is China's largest trade partner."

Facing the reality, Sarkozy might as well reflect on his policies toward China. Perhaps he needs to be reminded of his 3-day debut visit to China, when the Chinese greeted him not only with flowers and smiles, but also a hefty series of contracts worth $30 billion.