Govt urges France to mend ties

The government yesterday urged France to take responsibility and effective measures to mend strained ties stemming from French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama on Saturday.

"The responsibility to repair the dampened Sino-French relations lies with France, not China. We demand and hope that the French side takes concrete steps to correct its mistake," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said yesterday.

"France needs to fully grasp the damage done, not only to the Sino-French ties, but also to our relationship with the European Union (EU) due to Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama," he said.