Sino-French bilateral ties suffered a setback after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama in Poland in early December last year, causing China to cancel the Sino-EU summit scheduled in Lyon, France, in the same month and causing a heated debate on the two nations' ties.

On the night of February 25, two ancient Chinese relics were controversially auctioned off for a total of 31.49 million Euros (US$39.63 million) to an anonymous telephone bidder in Christie's sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris. Once more Sino-French ties are a hot topic on the Internet.

According to an online investigation by Chinanews, a total of 5,751 netizens voted on the topic of "Will Sino-French ties warm up? What about the future of Sino-EU relations?" So far, 75 percent are optimistic about Sino-EU relations; while 57 percent take a prudent view of future Sino-French ties, figuring that Sarkozy's attitude towards Dalai will be a key point.

Netizens said former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's visit to China on February 10 is a sign of a will to mend the bilateral ties. Among his statements were: "France adheres to the one-China policy, and respects and supports China's sovereignty, reunification, and territorial integrity." This indicates an acknowledgement that the issues of Tibet and Taiwan are China's internal affairs and that France fully recognizes the sensitivity of such issues.

One netizen said, "There will be a favorable turn-around in the relationship between the two countries, but it depends on the French government's actions."

After visiting Switzerland, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao concluded his weeklong "trip of confidence" to Europe on February 2, which has also been called "the trip around France's neighbors".

On the subject of the trip, Raffarin said that the French side had heard no negative remarks. Premier Wen's visit helped to strengthen dialogue and understanding between China and European countries. France will also take the initiative in lifting the EU ban on the sale of arms to China and in recognizing China's full market economy status.

In response to such factors, the online investigation shows only 16 percent thought France will negatively affect Sino-EU relations.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, March 3, 2009)