BEIJING, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas
Sarkozy's plan to meet with the Dalai Lama sparked a new round of online anger
towards France.
Sarkozy was due to meet the Dalai Lama on Saturday
afternoon at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Poland.
"The Tibet issue touches on China's core interests.
Anyone crossing that line will have to pay for it, and that is not something
people from China and France would like to see," a Chinese netizen who
identified himself as Qiu Jianming said in a forum on news.cn, a major news
site.
Added another: "It is not the first time that France
has used the Tibet issue to interfere with China's internal affairs. The
disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris this April alone was unpleasant
enough. We will not compromise one bit when it comes to China's sovereignty and
territorial integrity."
Sarkozy's decision to meet the Dalai Lama earlier
prompted China to put off the 11th China-European Union Summit, which had been
scheduled for this week in France.
China had no choice but to react, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said on Nov. 28 in a statement.
The government's decision to postpone the summit won
overwhelming support from the country's online population.
A survey conducted on Huanqiu.com, affiliated to the
People's Daily newspaper, showed about 98 percent of netizens supported the
decision to postpone the summit. Out of more than 64,000 votes, only 1,325 voted
"no".
"We should start boycotting French commodities and
never travelto France," said an anonymous netizen, whose sentiments were widely
echoed.
The online backlash is the latest in a string of rows
targeting France.
The disruption of the Olympic torch relay in Paris
this April sparked a boycott of French products and enterprises including the
Carrefour retail chain, which denied claims that it supported the Dalai Lama.
In July, another online survey covering more than
170,000 people showed more than 89 percent of the respondents did not want
Sarkozy to attend the Olympic opening ceremony. The French leader had earlier
said that whether he would attend the ceremony depended on the progress of talks
between the Chinese government and the private representatives of the Dalai
Lama.
Signed article: On the "Memorandum" of
the Dalai clique
BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- At a press conference of
the State Council Information Office on Nov. 10, Zhu Weiqun, executive vice
director of the United Front Work Department (UFWD) of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) Central Committee, UFWD Vice Director Sita and Executive Vice
Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government Pelma Trilek briefed media on
their talks with private representatives of the Dalai Lama from Oct. 30 to Nov.
5. Full story
China postpones summit with EU due to
French leader's planned meeting with Dalai Lama
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has to postpone
the 11th summit with the European Union scheduled in early December because of
French leader's planned meeting with the Dalai Lama, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said here Wednesday night.
The decision is made because the summit does not
enjoy a good atmosphere, nor can it achieve expected goals, Qin said, adding the
cause and responsibility do not lie on the Chinese side. Full story
Chinese FM: China opposes French
President's meeting with Dalai Lama
BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday
expressed resolute opposition to the meeting between the Dalai Lama and French
President Nicolas Sarkozy in Poland planned for next month.
Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's
six-month-rotating presidency, will meet the Dalai Lama on Dec. 6 while
attending activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the awarding of the
Nobel Peace Prize to former Polish President Lech Walesa. Full story
