?[By Gou Ben/China.org.cn]

France can boast to having at least three "firsts" in Sino-Western relations: it was the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1964; Francois Hollande was the first major Western leader to be received by the new Chinese administration in Beijing; and the first foreign ambassador President Hollande met after his election in May 2012 was from China.

It is interesting to note that the joint communiqué establishing diplomatic ties between China and France was extremely short: only 45 Chinese characters. But the reaction from around the world was grave. The United States was particularly disappointed by De Gaulle's diplomatic decision. Time magazine wrote: "As a nation, France has seemed to be dying all through the 20th century … Yet last week the impossible had apparently come true, and France was once more a mover and shaker in world affairs ... To cap his nation's re-emergence as a world power, De Gaulle recognized the communist regime in Beijing as the government of China, brushing aside protests from Washington that the move would seriously damage US policy in Asia."

Over the past half-century, Chinese and French bilateral relations have not always been smooth. In 1992, France decided to sell arms to the Chinese province of Taiwan. China reacted with decisive measures as a response: Major French investment projects in China were suspended or canceled; France's Consulate General in Guangzhou was closed; and bilateral exchanges above the ministerial level were put on the shelf.

It was not until early 1994 when a joint declaration was published that the bilateral relations were once again normalized. In this document, France promised not to sell arms to Taiwan and recognized that Taiwan is a part of the People's Republic of China.

France assumed the rotating EU Presidency on July 1, 2008. This should have created a good opportunity for President Sarkozy to promote relations between France and China. But he blackmailed China?by saying that he would attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, if the dialogue between the central government of China and the representatives of Dalai Lama could be fruitful. Sarkozy also kept his promise to meet with the Dalai Lama in December, the first head of state of the EU Presidency to do so.

Sarkozy's defiance resulted in a strong Chinese reaction. The planned China-EU Summit was postponed and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's trip to Europe in early 2009 purposefully excluded France. Premier Wen later said that, when he looked at the map, he noticed that his airplane circled around France.

Recognizing the importance of maintaining good relations, China and France publicized a joint press communiqué on April 1, 2009, saying that France fully recognizes the importance and sensitivity of the Tibet issue, reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy and the position that Tibet is an integral part of the Chinese territory, in accordance with the decision made by General Charles de Gaulle, and refuses to support any form of "Tibet independence."

Since then, China-France relations have been moving forward at a brisk pace. France is now China's fourth largest trade partner in the EU, behind Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Bilateral trade increased from $13.4 billion in 2003 to $51 billion in 2012. Two-way direct investments are also on the rise.

Bilateral cooperation and exchange platforms have so far been successful. For instance, more than 700 projects in science and technology have been implemented and more than 120 pairs of Chinese and French universities and middle schools are engaged in various kinds of educational exchange programs. More than 45,000 French students are learning Chinese in the 15 Confucius Institutes across France. Starting from January 1, 2013, French visitors can stop over in Beijing and Shanghai for up to 72 hours with no entry visa required.

In retrospect, we can conclude that, in order to avoid zigzags in the bilateral relations between China and France, both sides need to respect the "core interest" of the other. China's "core interest" mainly focuses on territorial integrity. Any attempt to interfere with China's sovereignty over Taiwan and Tibet will cause backlash against foreign actors and states.

France's "core interest" involves its concern over human rights situation inside and outside its national borders. According to a joint press communiqué released on April 26, 2013, both sides will promote and protect human rights according to the UN Charter and reaffirm that human rights dialogue between China and the EU will continue on the basis of mutual respect.

China and France established a so-called comprehensive strategic partnership in 2004. Despite the fact that different people have different understanding of this terminology, it is highly necessary for both sides to make it live up to public expectation by expanding and deepening bilateral cooperation and exchanges, particularly in economic areas.

It was reported that Hollande was criticized by the Sarkozy administration in the presidential election campaign, alleging that he could not be a competent head of state as he had never been to China. Hollande replied: "I am going to visit China as soon as I can." The French leader kept his promise.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://china.org.cn/opinion/jiangshixue.htm

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