国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

National

Regional

Taiwan, HK, Macao

Special Coverage

Focus

Society

Profiles

Honor for Dalai Lama 'political stunt'

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-09 07:22

Socialist Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe engaged in "a full political stunt" when he met the Dalai Lama and bestowed upon him honorary citizenship of the French capital, Chinese experts said.

Related readings:  Chinese groups protest Dalai honor  China protests Danish officials' meeting with Dalai  Dalai Lama invite 'could hurt ties'  China opposes honorary Paris citizenship for Dalai Lama

On Sunday afternoon, Delanoe hosted the Dalai Lama at a ceremony in Paris, despite objections from China.

The step irked Beijing at a time when relations between France and China had just begun to thaw, Reuters reported.

However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy distanced himself from the meeting, describing it as "a municipal matter", not "an act of state", according to BBC.

Wu Baiyi, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said the complexity of politics in France resulted in inconsistent behavior between politicians in the national government and those in the capital city.

The Socialist Party, which Delanoe represents, was the main opposition to Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election.

"The Sarkozy government has distanced itself from Delanoe's meeting with Dalai Lama as it learned the lesson from the last Sino-French relationship crisis, but Sarkozy could do little about Paris City Hall's decision," Wu said.

Zhao Junjie, an expert in European studies with the CASS, said Delanoe, as a Socialist Party member, met the Dalai Lama to "intensify the competition with the opposite party" and "played the political stunt to its full", risking hurting Chinese people's feelings.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned Paris city government's move.

"The behavior ... can only create serious damage to cooperation between Paris and relevant cities in China and has created grave interference in relations between China and France," it said in a statement.