Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy

Demonstrators carried pictures of Jin Jang, a wheelchair-bound Chinese athlete, who had been accosted by a French protester during the torch relay in Paris and whose treatment had incensed the Chinese public. Shoppers who bravely ventured into Carrefour stores did so under the protection of scores of riot police. The eruption of Chinese protests against Carrefour, which threatened to engulf other French companies as well, was reminiscent of those staged against Japanese companies in 2005 when relations between China and Japan reached a new nadir. Alarmed by the threat to their Chinese operations, Carrefour vehemently denied the rumours about it funding the Tibetan government-in-exile and declared its opposition to the splitting of China. To contain the protests, China ’s internet gatekeepers began restricting searches using the French company’s name. Meanwhile, President Sarkozy sought to defuse anger over the protests in Paris by offering a tacit apology for вЂwounded’ Chinese feelings. With French companies growing increasingly concerned about a boycott of their goods by Chinese consumers, Nicolas Sarkozy wrote a letter to Jin Jang, the Chinese athlete, offering his вЂsympathy’ ...»