 Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-16 07:59 Sarkozy's action unacceptable French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama in Poland has deeply angered the Chinese people despite French efforts to soothe feelings. A French Foreign Ministry spokesman emphasized France's willingness to maintain dialogue and strategic partnership with China. However, Sarkozy insists he does not regret meeting the Dalai Lama. People doubt whether the Foreign Ministry's remarks are more authoritative than Sarkozy's. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the ministry's remarks, however, it should have come from Sarkozy himself. He is the one who has hurt the bilateral relationship by being obstinate. It is not that difficult to have close bilateral ties if mutual trust and respect is maintained. This means respecting the interests, sovereignty and integrity of each other. The meeting with the Dalai Lama goes against these principles. The French Foreign Ministry's remarks should be accompanied by more concrete measures. An immediate break with the Dalai Lama is an essential step. Wang You on blog.xinhuanet.com Scaring investors Comment on "Money supply to be raised to boost liquidity" (China Daily, Dec 15) I have noticed some business news programs aired outside the mainland that are very pessimistic about China's economy. I think their views scare a lot of investors while these naysayers themselves have previously made money in mainland. I wish they are wrong and I can bet if the economy returns to normal, these people will be among the first group to jump on the bandwagon. Qqq on China Daily website Teaching children correct English Your correspondent (in a letter on Nov 20) takes an over-simplistic view if she thinks that the only "correct" English to teach her school pupils in China is American English. When English is taught as a second language, with a view to multi-national communication, a fairly standard version is surely what is needed. However, that is not so very easy to identify. Should we say, "My pleasure," (US), or "Not at all" (British) or "No worries" (Australian), or the more widely-used "You're welcome"? In fact, there are probably more Asians speaking British-style English, than Asians speaking the American style. But that is not to say that one style is right, and the other wrong. Both are used by native English speakers. With the intention of helping her young Chinese pupils develop English language skills, they would be best served by helping them to learn widely-used English phrases, rather than those specific to only one country. That type of "standard" English will enable them to communicate across cultures. Paul Surtees in Hong Kong via e-mail Readers' comments are welcome. Please send mail to Letters to the Editor, China Daily, 15 Huixin Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100029 China. Send faxes to (86-10) 6491-8377. Send e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you. (China Daily 12/16/2008 page9) |
