FM: France should take initiative in improving ties

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-19 22:15

BEIJING -- France should take the initiative and make concrete efforts to put China-France relations back on the track, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said here Thursday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin in Beijing, Feburary 10, 2009. [Xinhua]

"We have pointed out several times that the difficulties in current China-France relations are not the responsibility of China," Jiang said while responding to a question about whether the two countries were trying to mend bilateral relations.

Sino-French relations hit a low after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama last December in Poland, despite protests from the Chinese government. As a result, China postponed the 11th China-EU Summit and lodged a strong protest against the meeting.

France should positively and actively respond to China's major and core concerns, Jiang said.

China maintained that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and Tibet-related issues are purely China's internal affairs. China opposes any country, organization or individual using the Dalai Lama to intervene in its internal affairs, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.