By Martin Banks - 8th December 2008
France was today facing growing Chinese calls for a boycott of French goods.
The calls, reported in the Chinese state media, follow Saturday’s meeting between French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama in Poland.
Beijing lodged a formal protest, via China’s deputy foreign minister He Yafei, at the 90-minute meeting, which followed the Tibetan leader’s address to parliament on Thursday.
Chinese newspapers on Sunday blasted Sarkozy's meeting as an "unwise move" that has undermined relations with Beijing.
"This development is indeed an unwise move which not only hurts the feelings of the Chinese people, but also undermines Sino-French ties," said a commentary by the official Xinhua news agency.
Sarkozy is the only European head of state to meet the Dalai Lama while holding the EU presidency.
But Sarkozy appealed to China not to overplay the significance of the meeting, saying, “I am free as the French president and the EU president, I have values and convictions. Let's not make things tense, the world doesn't need it and it doesn't correspond to reality.”
French finance minister Christine Lagarde also played down the spat, calling it a “minor incident”.
China has also heavily criticised parliament’s decision to award its annual Sakharov prize to a Chinese dissident. The prize is due to be presented during next week’s plenary in Strasbourg.
It has been a turbulent year for Sino-French ties. Weeks of anti-France demonstrations, targeting French commercial symbols such as retail giant Carrefour, erupted in April after pro-Tibet activists disrupted the Paris leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay.
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