SARKOZY POSTPONES ANNOUNCEMENT OF OLYMPIC PLANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 002431 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2028 TAGS: PREL PGOV CVIS ETRD KOLY FR CH SUBJECT: SARKOZY POSTPONES ANNOUNCEMENT OF OLYMPIC PLANS OVER BEIJING TRAVEL BOYCOTT REF: BEIJING 2333 Classified By: Acting Political Minister Counselor. Reasons 1.4 (B/D). ¶1. (C) The French Government has postponed until July 9 the announcement of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision on whether to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, French DCM Nicolas Chapuis told the Charge June 20. Beijing's current tourism boycott of France (reftel) was part of the reason for the postponement. In a June 12 Paris meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Sarkozy called the current tourism boycott "an aggressive move" and gave the Chinese Government one week to fix the situation. If visa application numbers do not increase, the French Government will take additional steps, possibly including boycotting the 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony or approaching the Shengen visa group in Brussels to coordinate a response, which Chapuis said might potentially include systematically denying visas to Chinese citizens. Chapuis also raised the possibility of including the Japanese, British and U.S. Embassies in any coordinated response. Visa Numbers Tell Story -------------- ¶2. (C) Under normal circumstances, the French Embassy receives 400-500 non-immigrant visa applications per week. On June 20, only 12 people applied for visas. Visa applications at the French Consulate in Shanghai have increased approximately 10 percent, but in Guangzhou have not changed. The French Embassy interprets these statistics to mean that Chinese are not circumventing the Beijing boycott by applying for visas in other cities. Unchanged visa application numbers at the German and Italian Embassies disprove China's contention that the decline in applications stems not from a boycott but from a general Chinese reluctance to travel since the Sichuan earthquake, Chapuis said. Chapuis said Sarkozy has labeled the Chinese Government's continued denial that any boycott exists a "state lie." PICCUTA