Chirac's humour

At the question-and-answer session of his speech at Peking University, 74-year-old Chirac grimaced when he found something was wrong with the questioner's microphone. Shrugging, he said: "It's not my fault at all because I haven't touched it." His quick wit earned him a full hall's worth of laughter and applause.

A right gift

At the end of his speech, Chirac was presented with a duplicate plaque of Peking University's predecessor, the Jing Shi Da Xue Tang or Metropolitan Grand University, when it was opened in December 1898.

Officials said the university chose the gift because of Chirac's great interest in Chinese history. The French president happily accepted the plaque, saying "Thank you!" in Mandarin to his host.

Chinese saying

"If two persons are of one heart, they are strong enough to break metal," said Chirac, quoting a famous Chinese saying to call for unity between China and his country. That demonstrated his rich knowledge of Chinese culture, students said.

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