France warned of risks to bilateral relations

The French government has an obligation to tell the French people that a politician's plan to lead a group on a visit to Taiwan will hurt relations between France and China, an analyst said.

Tian Dewen, deputy director of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made the point in asserting that the one-China policy is the foundation of the bilateral relationship.

"It is unjustifiable that the French government does not take a stance on this issue," Tian said. "France has always advocated an independent foreign policy but this time it has ignored the facts."

Tian said Taiwan is part of China, and that the French government should explain to the people that the plan by Senator Alain Richard to lead the group in a summer visit to Taiwan would harm bilateral relations.

Citing the French news website La Lettre A, some media outlets reported that Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye last month sent a "hard-line" letter to Richard, a former defense minister and member of France's ruling party, who heads the French Senate's Taiwan Friendship Group.

According to the full letter released by the embassy on its website last week, Lu expressed serious concerns about the planned Taiwan trip. He said the visit would go against the one-China policy and send the wrong message to the island's secessionist forces.

Lu also advised the French senator to respect China's core interests and major concerns and properly handle related issues, while avoiding any form of official exchanges with the Taiwan authorities. The ambassador also urged the senator to take concrete actions to safeguard the overall interests of the friendly relations between China and France.

However, France's Foreign Ministry said it has summoned Lu over "unacceptable" comments in recent days. Tian said the French officials were lacking "manners" in this issue, and that China has reacted reasonably to Richard's planned visit.

Win-win cooperation

"China and France have forged a win-win cooperation since establishing diplomatic ties, and it is regretful that the French government responded on this issue this way," he said.

The Chinese embassy tweeted that the ambassador would go to the French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday to discuss the European Union sanctions that had been applied on Chinese officials as well as questions linked to Taiwan.

On Sunday, the embassy reiterated that China has always taken a positive and welcome attitude toward reports by French media and scholars, and to discussions on China-related issues. But such reports should be objective and fair and not based on rumors, lies or prejudice. The reports are considered an important channel for China to understand China-related public opinion and social trends in France.

"We will also respond to erroneous facts and biased opinions to clarify the facts and make our position clear," the embassy said.