CHINA: French presidential candidate Segolene Royal meets with Zeng Qinghong, China's vice president in Beijing

French socialist Segolene Royal - bidding to become France's first female president - on Tuesday (January 9) said she has avoided criticising her rivals ahead of elections in April and May. "For me, as a political figure I always make sure not to criticise other political figures even if he is from another political side. I believe that whatever political party you are attached to, in a way you represent France, especially myself as a presidential candidate in a democracy, it is an important thing and i am surprised, by the way, that it is a political figure that pretends to erase the differences between the right wing and the left wing and create a fair state. I'm speaking about Bayrou (Francois Bayrou, Leader of the centrist party UDF (Union pour la Democratie Francaise)), who allows himself to politically criticise others on a low level," Royal told a press conference in Beijing at the tail end of a visit to China's capital city. Bayrou, who won 6.8 percent of the vote in the 2002 election, has cast himself as an outsider in the politics of left versus right and called for "another path" inspired by the grand coalition in neighbouring Germany. Royal is running neck-and-neck with conservative Nicolas Sarkozy for the two-round presidential election. A weekend Ifop poll put Royal on 50.5 percent and Sarkozy 49.5 percent. Socialist Royal, bidding to become France's first woman president this spring, has little foreign policy experience and her trip to China follows a Middle East trip marred by gaffes. Royal's highest-level meeting was with Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong (pron: zuhn cheeng hohng). She defended the four-day visit as substantive. "The people I spoke to not only gave me their point of view on how China is developing, China's position in international relations, its role in the world's stability, I also could address all the issues that I wanted to deal with: the issue of French-Chinese relations of course, the problem of globalisation and relocation, stable development concepts, the major issue here of lasting development which obviously concerns the whole world," said Royal. Royal's rivals said her China trip has been dominated by photo opportunities, rather than high-profile meetings. Royal said such criticism was harmful to relations with China. "It is not a surprise that there are criticisms in France about my trip here. We are in a very important political period, so I think that anything is good to create controversy. I think that those types of criticism affect me less than the Chinese politicians that i have been speaking to, it is very unpleasant for them to hear such things, as, I think, they have made a considerable effort that allowed me to have in-depth meetings at very high levels," said Royal. Royal said sensitive human rights issues had come up in meetings. "The issue of human rights in all its forms, the subject of woman's position in society, France's position in the Chinese economy, and the Europe-China dialogue as well as topics concerning international issues such as nuclear proliferation," said Royal. China's human rights record and its growing economic weight have stirred some unease among French voters, with an inflow of Chinese textiles adding to competition. Some workers fear they could lose their jobs to cheaper Chinese workers.

ITN Source | January 9, 2007

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