|
CHINA> National
![]() |
|
France seeks to repair relations with China
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-07 08:55 PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday that his country hopes to deepen ties with China, which have been strained over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama. "We need China, the world needs China to get out of the recession " Fillon told parliament.
Relations between the two countries hit a low after Sarkozy refused to call off a meeting with the Dalai Lama in December. Beijing then pulled out of a summit with the European Union (EU) that was supposed to have taken place on Dec 1 in France, which held the rotating EU presidency at the time. Fillon stressed that Tibet is an integral part of China, but insisted that the French president had every right to meet the Dalai Lama. "For us, this incident does nothing to distract from our desire to reinforce our strategic partnership with China."
China, which has said it is up to France to repair ties with Beijing, agreed with the EU last week to hold a summit soon, after the London G20 summit on April 2. France was excluded from Premier Wen Jiabao's recent European visit. "We all know why," Wen said when asked why he had omitted France from his itinerary, China News Service reported. "I looked at a map of Europe on the plane. My trip goes around France," Wen said. The "reason (for not visiting) doesn't lie with China", he told a group of reporters. He urged Paris to "mend and improve ties" with China. Wen's tour, which began on Jan 27 and ended Monday, took him to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom. |
||||||
汕尾市| 乌拉特前旗| 连山| 洛宁县| 长岛县| 黎城县| 买车| 金沙县| 新干县| 巴彦淖尔市| 鲜城| 绵阳市| 密山市| 保山市| 淮安市| 兰州市| 东台市| 申扎县| 临安市| 三穗县| 普兰店市| 昭觉县| 武邑县| 靖西县| 新乐市| 临沭县| 平凉市| 东港市| 南漳县| 兴海县| 朝阳县| 日照市| 沿河| 沂水县| 长寿区| 玉屏| 呼和浩特市| 兰州市| 屏东县| 左云县| 盘山县|