Foreign and Military Affairs

Sino-French ties back on track

By Ding Qingfen, Ai Yang and Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-29 07:12
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Three of the five UN Security Council permanent members -- France, Britain and the US -- have been pressing for a fourth round of UN penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt a key part of its nuclear program that could be used to make weapons. Iran says it only wants the technology to produce nuclear power.

Hu did not comment on Iran.

China is open to further discussions with major Western powers on how to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, Hu said when meeting US President Barack Obama in Washington earlier this month.

This April marks a new beginning for Sino-French ties, Le Figaro, a leading daily newspaper in France, said while commenting on Sarkozy's China visit.

Before his departure, the French president told Xinhua News Agency some misunderstanding between the two countries were bygones.

Sarkozy is the first state leader to come to China for Friday's opening ceremony of the World Expo in Shanghai. Accompanied by wife Carla Bruni, he first stopped in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and spent the morning visiting the terracotta warriors.

The couple are scheduled to visit the Great Wall, and Bruni will also tour Beijing's hutong.

Calling the delegation's itinerary "inspiring", Fang Lexian, a professor of European politics at Renmin University of China, said "it's a good way to learn how Chinese history and societies have influenced our personality and way of thinking".

"Sino-French relations are getting back on track," Fang said, noting it's "hard to tell" if sensitive issues "challenging mutual understanding" will crop up in the future.

Zhou Hong, director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said problems "still exist" between the two countries.

While France hopes to benefit from the rise of China's economic growth, the fact that Chinese manufacturers are increasingly developing and selling their own technology has made the market tougher for French planes and power plants, Reuters reported.

During his first state visit to China in late 2007, Sarkozy struck deals for two nuclear reactors and 160 Airbus planes.

No deal was announced on Wednesday even though Sarkozy's entourage included senior representatives of the top 20 French transnational firms.

The two leaders agreed both countries would have "practical cooperation" in the nuclear, aviation, environment protection, energy and agriculture sectors.

"One of the big questions of this trip is to find out whether France can resume its big-contract diplomacy," said Francois Godement, a China specialist at the Institute of Political Science in Paris.

"How many trains are we going to sell to China, when it is selling its own high-speed trains as far afield as California and Saudi Arabia?" he told Reuters.

Agence France-Press, Reuters contributed to the story

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