Paris granted the Dalai Lama honorary citizenship as a fresh wave of anti-Western protests broke out in China. Meanwhile, the Tibetan spiritual leader called on the United States for help with Tibet. The Paris city council voted on Monday, April 21, to bestow honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama without the blessing of President Nicolas Sarkozy's federal government. Hu Jia, a prominent human rights activist who was jailed in China earlier this month on charges of attempted subversion, was also awarded citizenship in the French capital. Beijing said Tuesday it was "strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed" to the Paris city council's decision, calling it interference in China's internal affairs. A spokesman for Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party said Paris' Mayor Bertrand Delanoe may have been trying to boost his domestic popularity with the initiative.
The Paris city council voted on Monday, April 21, to bestow honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama without the blessing of President Nicolas Sarkozy's federal government. Hu Jia, a prominent human rights activist who was jailed in China earlier this month on charges of attempted subversion, was also awarded citizenship in the French capital.
Beijing said Tuesday it was "strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed" to the Paris city council's decision, calling it interference in China's internal affairs.
A spokesman for Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party said Paris' Mayor Bertrand Delanoe may have been trying to boost his domestic popularity with the initiative.
BEIJING: Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has criticised Paris's decision to honour the Dalai Lama and stressed there is no "confrontation" with China following angry protests, state media said on Wednesday. The French government has scrambled to distance itself from Paris city council's move to make the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader an honorary citizen, which coincides with days of anti-France rallies. "I believe that the action by (Paris Mayor Bertrand) Delanoe is a very serious political mistake," Raffarin said, according to the text of an interview published in the China Youth Daily.
