BEIJING OLYMPICS FAIL TO IMPROVE FRENCH VIEWS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001890

SIPDIS

STATE FOR CM (THORNTON) S/P (GREEN) AND D (LEE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV CH FR
SUBJECT: BEIJING OLYMPICS FAIL TO IMPROVE FRENCH VIEWS ON
CHINA

REF: A. STATE 105510

B. PARIS POINTS E-MAIL OCTOBER 3 (NOTAL)

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Kathy Allegrone, reasons 1.
4 (b/d)

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) The French public watched the Beijing Summer
Olympics in large numbers and with interest but came
away without an appreciable change in their generally
downbeat views on China. Our reading from contacts in
discussions since the August 24 closing ceremony is
that in the current context of economic uncertainty,
China continues to represent a potential threat in the
eyes of the French public. France's government and
parliament have no intention to change tack with
respect to China and plan to continue what officials
described as a "reactive" and "realistic" approach to
the bilateral relationship. Media coverage of the
Games was considerable, although the Russia-Georgia
crisis and an ambush in Afghanistan that killed 10
French soldiers August 18 shifted the spotlight away
from Beijing. Commentary since the Olympics has mixed
praise for China's athletic and logistical performance
with criticism of its human rights record and lack of
openness. End summary.

Blanket Coverage of the Games
--------------


2. (C) French television provided blanket coverage of
the Games, which snagged an average 25.6 percent
market share, slightly better than for the Athens
Olympics in 2004, French media reported. The three
state-run networks that showed the Olympics sent some
400 journalists and support staff to China for the
event. Sports themselves, and particularly the fate
of French teams and athletes, had pride of place on
the airwaves, with relatively few human interest
stories about China. News of crackdowns on dissent in
China took a backseat to coverage of the Russia-
Georgia crisis, which exploded on the eve (August 7)
of the opening ceremony. An ambush that killed 10
French soldiers in Afghanistan August 18 also shifted
the spotlight away from Beijing. Nonetheless, most
French newspapers ran stories throughout the games
documenting what the daily Liberation called China's
steps to "muzzle" opposition to the Communist Party.
In this vein, the disappearance of Zeng Jinyan, wife
of human rights activist Hu Jia, at the onset of the
Games received prominent play in major French papers.

French Remain Skeptical About China
--------------


3. (C) Nothing in the media altered the skeptical
views prevalent among elites and others in French
society on China's global role, said Francois
Godement, director of the Asia Center think-tank and
professor at Sciences Po, France's top political
science university. Especially in the current
economic climate, French people tend to think of China
in terms of an economic threat -- a bastion of
unregulated growth and U.S.-style unfettered
capitalism on a grand scale. "China has replaced the
United States as the bogeyman in France terms of the
negative effects of globalization," Godement said.
France-China relations hit bottom during the Olympic
torch's chaotic passage through Paris, which occurred
at a time when the French media was giving major,
often highly critical, coverage to China's crackdown
in Tibet. Godement observed that the images coming
from China in the wake of the torch relay fiasco -- in
particular the protests at Carrefour stores in China
and the threats to French diplomats and journalists --
were "profoundly offensive" to French people. When
the Olympics ended, people switched off their
televisions and forgot about the medal count. But
they remembered the anti-France rhetoric coming from
China in the run-up to the Games, Godement remarked.


PARIS 00001890 002 OF 002


Government Policy to Stay "Reactive"
--------------


4. (C) Nonetheless, China's increased media exposure
this spring and summer in connection with the Olympics
has not galvanized officialdom to reexamine the nature
of France-China ties. Arnaud Rohmer, a senior staff
member on the National Assembly's foreign affairs
committee, said the Olympics had little effect in
terms of French parliamentarians' views of China. "We
tend to take a pragmatic, realistic approach to Asia,"
Rohmer said, adding that there are no rumblings in the
committee for having any special hearings on China
issues. No one on the foreign affairs committee is
agitating for President Sarkozy or the MFA to change
strategy on China, Rohmer said. In Godement's view,
official and public interest in the financial crisis,
Russia-Georgia and Afghanistan elbows aside any focus
on East Asia. In addition, the Middle East is a hardy
perennial priority for the French, he concluded.


5. (C) In this context, the French approach to China
and East Asia at large remains too "reactive," our
contacts who specialize in the region complained.
Criticizing the lack of planning and vision for
France's role in the region, MFA Deputy Director for
East Asia Fabrice Mauries groused to us that the
government's approach is simply to react to
events (ref B). Valerie Niquet, the Asia Director for
the French Institute for International Relations
(IFRI),assessed that President Sarkozy's hesitation
about attending the opening ceremony only served to
irritate the Chinese and paid few political dividends
at home. According to a Le Figaro newspaper poll
printed August 20, some 61 percent of French approved
of the president's presence at the ceremony.

Hopes for Increased Openness Dashed
--------------


6. (SBU) Opinion pages in the wake of the games mixed
praise for China's athletic and logistical
accomplishments with criticism of its record on human
rights. While China wanted to present itself as a
benevolent power, the daily Le Monde wrote, the
crackdown on dissent before and during the Games
"continues to cast doubt" on this image. Liberation
took a similar dim view, stressing that "far from
liberalizing the country, the Games on the contrary
permitted the reinforcing of controls on Chinese
society." As Le Figaro put it August 25, "China
disappointed the hopes of those who thought granting
(Beijing) the Games would inspire more openness and
cause an evolution toward increased democracy."
STAPLETON