French lawmakers snub Hu's address
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Chirac (R) and Hu outside the Elysee Palace in Paris.
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PARIS, France (AP) -- China's president has addressed France's parliament in a rare honor to a foreign leader, but was snubbed by many lawmakers because of Beijing's human rights record.
Earlier, Hu Jintao and President Jacques Chirac warned Taiwan against holding a referendum, with the French leader saying any measure that breeds tension between the two Asian rivals is dangerous.
Chirac also spoke out strongly in favor of lifting a European embargo on arms sales to China -- imposed after Beijing's crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
"This embargo no longer makes any sense," he said at a news conference with Hu. "It will, I hope, be lifted in the months to come."
European ministers meeting Monday in Brussels, Belgium, said the EU could decide this spring to lift the ban.
Hu's speech came on the second day of a three-day visit. France was looking for the visit to gain a larger part of China's massive market for French companies.
During a 29-minute address to the National Assembly, Hu stuck to established Chinese government policy.
Roughly half of France's 577 lawmakers did not attend the speech, which was heavy with Communist Party boilerplate and appeals for strengthened France-China cooperation.
Many of the absentees apparently boycotted the speech to express dissatisfaction with China's human rights record, with some joining protesters outside. One lawmaker, Philippe Foillot of the centrist UDF party, wore a white gag as he listened.
Some of the no-show legislators joined about 100 protesters at Paris' Invalides, about 500 meters away, to express support for Tibet and denounce China's alleged rights abuses.
In opposing Taiwanese referendum plans, Chirac aligned France with the United States -- Taiwan's most important friend -- and Japan, which have expressed concern about the planned March 20 vote.
Chirac warned that the vote threatened stability in Asia.
"All initiatives that can be interpreted as aggressive by one side or the other are dangerous for everyone and thus irresponsible," Chirac said.
"That is why France, it's correct, condemns a measure like a referendum or all others that can appear aggressive," he added. "This initiative is dangerous for everyone, for Taiwan, for China and for stability.
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, long regarded with suspicion by Beijing, plans to ask voters whether the island should reinforce its defenses if China continues to threaten the island with hundreds of missiles.
China opposes the plan -- as it does any measure it fears could mark a step toward its worst-case scenario: a declaration by Taiwan that it is formally separating itself from the Chinese, Communist Party-ruled mainland.
China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, has for years warned that it would use force to stop that from happening. The two sides separated amid civil war in 1949.
In Taiwan, officials said they regretted the French leader's criticisms and that China was using other countries to pressure the island.
"The Chinese communists have constantly elevated their military deployments against Taiwan, and they have even pointed 496 missiles at the island," Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Shih said. "That's what really constitutes a threat to peace and stability."
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
