French President Jacques Chirac, currently on a four-day state
visit to China, paid homage to the treasured relationship between
France and China, at a reception on Thursday at the Peninsula Hotel
in Beijing.
The Peninsula Hotel, Chirac's residence of choice on each of his
visits to China, went all-out to impress with its chefs preparing
over 12,000 canapés for the numerous crowd awaiting the
President.
In front of around 1500 guests, most of them French citizens in
China invited to the event, Chirac staked out an agenda for his
visit and lay down his hopes and dreams for the future of the
bilateral relationship.
President Chirac has enjoyed a very close relationship with
China in his 11-year tenure and on this, his fourth and likely
final state visit, he praised the development China had
witnessed.
"
Since our last visit, France's relationship with China has
developed further and been significantly enriched," said Chirac.
"High-level contacts between our two nations have never been so
frequent. Each day brings new projects, new promises for the
future."
Chirac was accompanied at the reception by the EU Ambassador to
China, Serge Abou, and the French Ambassador to China, Philippe
Guelluy, highlighting the political importance of his visit.
Scheduled to meet today with Chinese leaders such as President Hu
Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Chirac is viewing this trip as a
final chance to weigh on the ongoing EU-China dialogues on
international affairs and trade.
Addressing a crowd including both French and Chinese
dignitaries, Chirac spoke about "enhancing the Sino-French global
strategic partnership…through respecting cultural diversity. France
attaches supreme importance to its political relation with China
since they both share the goal of building a harmonious world, a
world of peace and security."
Commenting on China's recent important role in global crises
such as the North Korea's nuclear issue and the Lebanese war,
Chirac added that "China's growing role in helping the
non-proliferation act, its participation in UN peacekeeping
missions, in Lebanon for example, highlights our two nations'
cooperation in terms of principles as well as in practical
operations."
Chirac, suffering from low approval ratings at home and
embroiled in a political feud with members of his own UMP party,
including presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, has enjoyed
widespread popularity in China for his love of the country and his
encyclopedic knowledge of its culture.
Chirac carefully avoided mention of the EU-imposed tariffs in
his speech on Chinese shoe manufacturers, but trade will
undoubtedly be an important part of his discussions with the
Chinese leadership.
Accompanied on this visit by 30 French industry leaders, such as
the chief executives of Peugeot, Areva, Alstom, Societe Generale
and Airbus, Chirac will be looking to help close some major trade
deals. France has been a major ally of China's in the EU,
advocating the lifting of the EU arms embargo against China, and
for it to be recognized as a market economy.
"During this visit, I will bring up with Chinese leaders the
establishment of our industrial partnership. This partnership will
be marked by new progress. I am happy at the new agreements that
will be signed by several of our enterprises, as I am of the
assured successes of the months ahead," said Chirac, adding that
"to further this move, we must, in years to come, focus on human
training and development."
However, in this swansong trip to China, Chirac's emotion was
audible in his praise of the French community in China. Thanking
100 young French students, hand-selected to represent France in
China, for their presence, Chirac outlined that to foster the
Sino-French relationship, "we would have to speak China's language,
know its history, appreciate its culture, open ourselves to its
spirit and social characteristics and to this end, welcome more
Chinese students in France."
Following his speech, Chirac left the stage to the sounds of La
Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, and soaked up the
attention from the crowd, pausing to take pictures with French and
Chinese members of the audience, causing a little concern for his
bodyguards who worked hard to keep the President from being
jostled.
(China.org.cn by Chris Dalby, October 26, 2006)
