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AFP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090327/wl_asia_afp/francechinadiplomacybusiness;_ylt=AhTsCx72rpOTIDeR6oscNpUBxg8F
PARIS (AFP) – France is sending its parliament speaker and a former prime minister to China, the first in a series of visits intended to bring about a thaw in relations after a row over Tibet, officials said Friday.
Speaker Bernard Accoyer travels to Bejing in mid-April while former prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a frequent visitor to China and friend of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, will hold talks from April 6 to 10.
Raffarin will be joined by French executives who will attend a business conference in Bejing on April 8 and 9 to discuss the global economic crisis and prospects for new partnerships.
Former presidents Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d'Estaing are planning trips later this year, their offices said.
The official China Daily reported the visits this week and said a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao at the G20 summit in London had not been completely ruled out.
Relations between China and France nosedived after President Nicolas Sarkozy met with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Poland in December last year, prompting Beijing to postpone an EU-China summit.
China opposes any official meeting with the Dalai Lama, whom it accusesof being intent on achieving independence for Tibet after 58 years ofChinese rule. The Dalai Lama denies this, saying he wants meaningfulautonomy.
The auctioning in Paris last month of a pair of relics looted from China by French and British forces during the Second Opium War in 1860 added a further irritant to relations.
French foreign ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux separately said"these visits are part of the normal dialogue that we hope to pursueand strengthen with China, in particular to address global challenges.
"Our strategic partnership with China entails developing contacts and visits with various actors in Franco-Sino relations," he added. |
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发表于 2009-3-28 03:06
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