| Up until now, the French president, | | | | Commenting for the first time on those |
| Nicolas Sarkozy, has remained pretty | | | | protests, Sarkozy said that although the |
| reticent about whether he's planning to | | | | sight of the athletes and the torch |
| attend the opening ceremony of the | | | | being whistled and jeered had saddened |
| Olympic games in Beijing in August. But | | | | him, it was normal in a democracy that |
| on Tuesday, he finally broke his silence | | | | people should be allowed to express |
| and tentatively called on the Chinese | | | | their opinions. The solidarity shown |
| authorities to reopen discussions with | | | | with the Dalai Lama and Tibet was |
| Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the | | | | understandable and that was proof, as |
| Dalai Lama. | | | | far as he was concerned, of the need to |
| "France will do everything to encourage | | | | call on China to reopen discussions with |
| such talks," he said. " There are still | | | | the Dalai Lama to "find a political |
| several months to go (before the opening | | | | solution." |
| of the games) and there's no time to | | | | While Sarkozy played down the impact |
| lose.' | | | | Monday's demonstrations might have |
| "It'll be in light of the resumption of | | | | diplomatically and above all |
| such a dialogue that I'll decide what | | | | economically on relations between Paris |
| will be the conditions for our | | | | and Beijing, his sentiments were not |
| participation." | | | | necessarily being shared elsewhere. |
| By explicitly linking his presence at | | | | The French foreign minister, Bernard |
| the ceremony with the reopening of | | | | Kouchner, said the protests had made |
| talks, Sarkozy has moved on from the | | | | diplomatic relations between the two |
| only statement he had made on the matter | | | | countries a little more complicated. A |
| so far a couple of weeks ago, when he | | | | somewhat extraordinary declaration for |
| said that "all options were open." | | | | some of Kouchner's critics, who view it |
| That's a slight change in rhetoric | | | | as rather at odds with his track record |
| perhaps, but not exactly encouraging to | | | | as a man who has always been a firm |
| those who have been urging a boycott in | | | | supporter of Tibetan rights and counts |
| protest over China's security clampdown | | | | himself as a friend of the Dalai Lama. |
| in Tibet. | | | | Besides, who ever said diplomacy was |
| Sarkozy remained silent over the weekend | | | | easy? |
| as his junior minister for human rights, | | | | There was also some anxiety from within |
| Rama Yade, said in a newspaper interview | | | | the business community over potential |
| that the president had set three | | | | fallout from Monday's incidents. French |
| indispensable "conditions" for Chinese | | | | industrial giants such as Airbus, Alstom |
| authorities to meet before he would | | | | and Areva all have billion-euro |
| confirm his attendance. Yade later | | | | contracts lined up with the Chinese, but |
| backtracked, maintaining she had been | | | | know that Beijing can always take its |
| misquoted. | | | | custom elsewhere. |
| And there was not a peep from his office | | | | Sarkozy has given himself some breathing |
| at the Elysée palace on Monday after | | | | space, upped the ante just a tad and, |
| demonstrators cut short the journey of | | | | without promising anything, not excluded |
| the Olympic flame as it chaotically | | | | the possibility of boycotting the |
| passed through the streets of Paris. | | | | opening ceremony. |