Dharamsala, Dec. 5 – In protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to meet the Dalai Lama tomorrow angry Chinese nationalists have taken the bitterness against France to the cyberspace and are gathering online momentum for a boycott of French goods.
Beijing has already expressed its anger at Sarkozy’s decision by withdrawing from a planned EU-China summit.
Postings calling for boycott of French products in China flooded the website called China.com. “Within an hour, more than 3,000 people from across the country had expressed support for the boycott, and as of press time yesterday, the total had risen to more than 100,000,” reported state-run mediaChina daily. Consumers are advised not to buy about 50 French brands, including cars, clothes, alcohol and skin-care products.
Chinese calls to boycott French products were fueled after Tibet supporters disrupted the Paris leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay. Chinese protesters later staged three days of agitation against the supermarket chain Carrefour.
Analysts say that China had earlier manipulated public sentiments against western media during the uprising in Tibet in March. The current boycott call is also looked in a similar light.
Liu Jianchao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said good economic relations should always be based on a healthy political atmosphere.
“China attaches great importance to its strategic partnership and economic cooperation with France, which are interdependent facets,” he said at a news briefing.
He further said that the French side should make efforts to ensure good political relations between the two countries.
The Dalai Lama encourages countries to have closer ties with China and maintains that his meetings with world leaders should not be an obstacle in the relationship between the concerned country and China.
Sarkozy had earlier reverted his decision to stay away from the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony if China did not show progress in talks with the Dalai Lama. Media reports indicate a little possibility of last minute cancellation of the meeting between the Tibetan leader and Sarkozy.
Sarkozy declined a meeting with the Dalai Lama during the latter’s visit to France in August supposedly after Beijing warned that such direct contact would have serious consequences for bilateral relations.
French government spokesman Luc Chatel said November 26 that the meeting between the Tibetan leader and the French President will go ahead despite China’s anger.
