Olympic war of words heats up

The French supermarket giant, Carrefour, once again found itself at the centre of anti-West protests as demonstrations took place in towns and cities across China at the weekend.

But the chain wasn’t the only specifically French target. There were also rallies outside the country’s embassy in Beijing and the French Lycée.

There are signs however that the Chinese government wants to put a brake on events getting out of hand by urging its citizens to express their “patriotism with calm and responsibility.”

Meanwhile on Saturday there was also a pro-Chinese rally in Paris, as well as several other major cities around the world, calling for solidarity with China and the Olympics.

While the protests were against apparent bias in recent Western media coverage of Beijing’s security clampdown in Tibet, the French seem to have been singled out over and above other countries - particularly in China itself.

The Chinese government while not overtly encouraging displays of nationalism hasn’t exactly been forthcoming in playing down the tensions. It didn’t try to intervene in a citizen-led Internet campaign to boycott Carrefour, and has allowed state media to carry stories and pictures giving the impression that Western coverage of China’s dealings in Tibet and Darfur has been totally one-sided.

At the heart of the matter are of course the upcoming Olympic games and China’s appalling human rights record.

Beijing was far from amused by the events that took place in Paris earlier this month as the Olympic torch made its way through the streets of the French capital. Protesters demonstrating against China’s policy in Tibet and its refusal to reopen talks with the Dalai Lama forced the organisers to cut short the route of the torch, turning the whole thing into a public relations fiasco.

While the anger is certainly not just confined to anti-French sentiment, this country is a relatively easy target -– and an important one.

To begin with it is sensitive to the number of billion-Euro contracts lined up with China for some of its major industrial groups including Airbus, Alstom and Areva. Paris won’t want to cause a diplomatic storm. And the Chinese authorities know just how vital those deals are to France.

Carrefour – France's largest supermarket chain - itself has already invested heavily in China and potentially has a lot to lose, making it a relatively easy and “soft” target. It has more than 120 hypermarkets and 280 discount stores throughout the country.

On the purely political front, France is likely to be a big player immediately before the games start in August. And that of course matters to the hosts of this year’s Olympics.

France takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union in July. Any decision its president, Nicolas Sarkozy, might take about whether to attend the opening ceremony in Beijing could hold sway with leaders from the other 26 countries. And that’ll be especially true if – for once – they prove able to present a united front on an international issue. They’re not renowned for it.

Sarkozy’s popularity ratings are currently low in the domestic polls even after almost a month out of the celebrity headlines. And he’ll be eager to give his office a boost in July, by which time he will have been in power for just over a year.

Turning his attention to the leadership of Europe might just do that for him.

One thing’s for sure though. Anyone who had hoped that talk of an Olympic boycott in whatever form it might take, would simply fade into the background the nearer the games approached, would be sadly mistaken.

For the moment all eyes are on how far Beijing is willing to allow protests to escalate – just enough to “concern” the French even more probably. Meanwhile, many will be hoping that Sarkozy finally makes known his decision as to whether he’s going to turn up for the opening ceremony – one way or the other.