Op-Ed Contributors

Renewing the French connection

By Joergen Lindgren Hansen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-30 07:52

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in China on Wednesday on a three-day visit, during which he met with Chinese leaders in Beijing and will inaugurate the French Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai. From my understanding, the Chinese people have been cool to the news. Given the friction between China and France over the past two years, their reaction is not a surprise.

Sarkozy's visit, above all else, is an act of proper reconciliation to the hostile events that took place in 2008. In the lead-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, France severely damaged its relations with China because of Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama and several attempted sabotages of the Olympic torch relay.

Moral superiority, perhaps a lingering vestige of its colonialist past, continues to guide France's diplomatic relations. Despite its checkered past, which has left catastrophic effects on Africa and parts of Asia, France still acts like a moral "big brother" to countries like China.

In its defiant critique of Chinese policy on the Tibet autonomous region, France fails to see the irony of advising China on dealing with its domains. The events of 2008 have not helped diplomatic relations and general goodwill between the two countries.

In light of the friction, Sarkozy's visit is particularly important not only in restoring the diplomatic and economic relationship between the two nations, but also in demonstrating the idea that nations (and peoples) with differences of opinion can benefit from dialogue, exchange and the creation of new combined values.

Sarkozy's visit shows France has realized that it cannot avoid working with China, the new economic world power, and must introspect to reconcile with the new reality. Like the Chinese, the French are a proud people who look to their unique history and culture as a source of strength and inspiration. The problem is that France rests on the laurels of its glorious past, while China has woken up fully from the slumber of its past and now directs its gaze toward the future.

France, to be sure, has a lot to be proud of and to offer to the world. As a cultural brand, France stands for the apex of romance, style, refinement and beauty. But the problem is that the French learn less about today's China than the Chinese do about France.

As my Chinese friend told me, France is a romantic country in the eyes of many Chinese people, especially young women. Chinese women prefer French cosmetics and fashion, and those with the means to afford them are willing spenders. French films stars such as Sophie Marceau and film director Luc Besson are well known in China. Chinese people learn a lot about world history, too, including the French Revolution of 1789.

The French Pavilion, according to Sarkozy, will be an opportunity for the Chinese to learn more about France. But through this exposition, I hope an exchange will take place, too. France could use it as an opportunity to promote greater intellectual, academic and technological exchanges to foster better Sino-French relations.

China's immense economic strength is a fact, but its cultural potential has yet to be fully discussed. As history demonstrates, culture flourishes along with the economy. Moreover, if France were to truly open up to an exchange with China, the possibilities would be endless. By keeping power and politics to a minimum, the cultural traditions of both countries in the forms of art, literature, philosophy and so on - which used to be sources of inspiration for both cultures' spheres of influence - can once again become the guiding principles of global politics and diplomatic relations, instead of just money and power.

The French Cultural Center in Beijing is an example of the type of cultural exchange that promotes understanding between the two countries and which can lead to long-term political benefits. Among its many projects is one that offers French language films to the Chinese public. Venues for meaningful exchange, such as the cultural center, foster nurture young Chinese fans of French New Wave cinema who are the next generation of innovative filmmakers and would eventually become cultural policymakers.

We can foresee the next generation of young Chinese leaders whose intellect is shaped in the global context that enables them to handle international issues with more sensitivity and nuanced understanding. But as evident during the recent showdown between Chinese and French leaders, power and politics stand in the way of mutual understanding.

Sarkozy's friendly visit this week is a dramatic departure from his 2008 "boycott" of the Beijing Olympics. And it seems that the global controversy that marred the Olympics has subsided.

I hope the more peaceful, harmonious climate of the Expo will allow China, France and the rest of the world to realize that we have more important problems than jostling with each other. Issues such as health, education, poverty, and the environment are global priorities that require the urgent and united attention of the international community. Medicines San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), a commendable French humanitarian organization that ignores race, religion and politics in its mission to provide healthcare for those in need, is the type of model behavior that France should promote in China.

The best of contemporary France combined with Chinese economic ingenuity can inspire the creation of a new world model.

The author is a media consultant living in Paris.

(China Daily 04/30/2010 page9)