Don't mention human rights, French told
By Kim Willsher in Paris, Sunday Telegraph
07/01/07
As French presidential frontrunner Ségolène Royal visited China this weekend, a row erupted after France's tourist chiefs advised officials dealing with Chinese visitors: don't mention Tiananmen, Tibet or Taiwan.
Ségolène Royal at the Great Wall of China. There has been a huge rise in the number of Chinese tourists to France.
The suggestions, contained in a 65-page booklet produced by the French Ministry of Tourism, have outraged human rights groups, who describe them as scandalous, naive and cynical.
The advice to avoid sensitive political issues comes in a chapter on negotiating and doing business in the guide entitled "Chinese tourists: How best to welcome them".
Under the heading "Principles of etiquette", it counsels: "Avoid talking about Chinese politics; for example, events at Tiananmen or strategic questions about Taiwan or Tibet".
Elisabeth Alles, of the French Human Rights League, said: "It's completely scandalous.
We are only too well aware that the word Tiananmen is practically banned in China, but it is not in France, so the French should not have to submit to the directives that apply in the People's Republic of China."
Jean-Pierre Dubois, the league's president, agreed. "I find it absolutely extraordinary.
Here they are coming right out with it: don't talk about social issues, human rights, torture or the death penalty, and for goodness sake don't mention the modern slavery of workers in China. It is very stupid and naive."
The controversial guide was launched by Leon Bertrand, the French Minister of Tourism, last month.
The row erupted as Miss Royal, the Socialist candidate, who has edged ahead of her centre-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls for May's presidential election, had an embarrassing start to her four-day visit to Beijing. Instead of the red carpet she had hoped for, there were red faces as Chinese officials tied themselves in knots trying to resolve a protocol issue following her request for a meeting with President Hu Jintao.
As a presidential candidate, she would not normally be granted an audience with the Chinese leader. However, Oriental diplomacy triumphed when he agreed to meet Miss Royal in his role as Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee and not as head of state.
Back in France, human rights groups are also furious about a proposed extradition treaty with China that the French government is considering.
"We're astonished that the French government could agree to deliver anyone up to a legal system that does not guarantee any individual liberty and that ignores the right to a defence and the elementary principles of a fair trial," said Mr Dubois "It is clear that this treaty has been drawn up for economic reasons, which is totally unacceptable."
France has long had an approach to foreign policy that can be most diplomatically described as "pragmatic"; that is to say, often based on national interest.
For example, in the 1990s it insisted on continuing nuclear tests in the French Pacific despite worldwide condemnation, and refused to import British beef long after the mad cow disease crisis, even after it had been ordered to do so by Brussels.
France trained and supported those who went on to carry out the genocide in Rwanda, and while French politicians claimed America invaded Iraq because it wanted its oil, they failed to mention the contracts France's petrol giants had negotiated with Saddam Hussein's regime in the event of UN sanctions being lifted.
World's favourite tourist destinations (2004)
Number of visitors (million)
1. France 75.1
2. Spain 52.4
3. United States 46.1
4. China 41.8
5. Italy 37.1
6. Britain 27.8
7. Mexico 20.6
8. Germany 20.1
9. Russia 19.9
10. Turkey 16.8
telegraph.co.uk
By Kim Willsher in Paris, Sunday Telegraph
07/01/07
As French presidential frontrunner Ségolène Royal visited China this weekend, a row erupted after France's tourist chiefs advised officials dealing with Chinese visitors: don't mention Tiananmen, Tibet or Taiwan.
Ségolène Royal at the Great Wall of China. There has been a huge rise in the number of Chinese tourists to France.
The suggestions, contained in a 65-page booklet produced by the French Ministry of Tourism, have outraged human rights groups, who describe them as scandalous, naive and cynical.
The advice to avoid sensitive political issues comes in a chapter on negotiating and doing business in the guide entitled "Chinese tourists: How best to welcome them".
Under the heading "Principles of etiquette", it counsels: "Avoid talking about Chinese politics; for example, events at Tiananmen or strategic questions about Taiwan or Tibet".
Elisabeth Alles, of the French Human Rights League, said: "It's completely scandalous.
We are only too well aware that the word Tiananmen is practically banned in China, but it is not in France, so the French should not have to submit to the directives that apply in the People's Republic of China."
Jean-Pierre Dubois, the league's president, agreed. "I find it absolutely extraordinary.
Here they are coming right out with it: don't talk about social issues, human rights, torture or the death penalty, and for goodness sake don't mention the modern slavery of workers in China. It is very stupid and naive."
The controversial guide was launched by Leon Bertrand, the French Minister of Tourism, last month.
The row erupted as Miss Royal, the Socialist candidate, who has edged ahead of her centre-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls for May's presidential election, had an embarrassing start to her four-day visit to Beijing. Instead of the red carpet she had hoped for, there were red faces as Chinese officials tied themselves in knots trying to resolve a protocol issue following her request for a meeting with President Hu Jintao.
As a presidential candidate, she would not normally be granted an audience with the Chinese leader. However, Oriental diplomacy triumphed when he agreed to meet Miss Royal in his role as Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee and not as head of state.
Back in France, human rights groups are also furious about a proposed extradition treaty with China that the French government is considering.
"We're astonished that the French government could agree to deliver anyone up to a legal system that does not guarantee any individual liberty and that ignores the right to a defence and the elementary principles of a fair trial," said Mr Dubois "It is clear that this treaty has been drawn up for economic reasons, which is totally unacceptable."
France has long had an approach to foreign policy that can be most diplomatically described as "pragmatic"; that is to say, often based on national interest.
For example, in the 1990s it insisted on continuing nuclear tests in the French Pacific despite worldwide condemnation, and refused to import British beef long after the mad cow disease crisis, even after it had been ordered to do so by Brussels.
France trained and supported those who went on to carry out the genocide in Rwanda, and while French politicians claimed America invaded Iraq because it wanted its oil, they failed to mention the contracts France's petrol giants had negotiated with Saddam Hussein's regime in the event of UN sanctions being lifted.
World's favourite tourist destinations (2004)
Number of visitors (million)
1. France 75.1
2. Spain 52.4
3. United States 46.1
4. China 41.8
5. Italy 37.1
6. Britain 27.8
7. Mexico 20.6
8. Germany 20.1
9. Russia 19.9
10. Turkey 16.8
telegraph.co.uk
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