oneworldtalk

China on Tuesday expressed resolute opposition to connecting Tibet-related issues with the Beijing Olympic Games.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao made the remarks in response to a question concerning French President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent comments about the Dalai Lama.

Sarkozy said on Monday he would attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if the latest contact between China's central government and the private representatives of the Dalai Lama achieve progress. He would meet with the Dalai Lama in early August.

"The Tibet issue is China's internal affair, and the contact between the central government and the Dalai Lama's private representatives is an internal matter," Liu said.

"We oppose some country leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama in any form, oppose connecting Tibet-related issues with the Beijing Olympics and politicizing the Olympics," the spokesman said.

The Beijing Olympic Games will be a feast for 1.3 billion Chinese and people around the world, Liu said, adding that to hold a successful Games is the common wish of China as well as the rest of the world.

In an online poll conducted by Sina.com.cn, 88 percent of respondents said they viewed Sarkozy's remarks as "extremely unfriendly", while an equivalent proportion said they do not welcome his presence at the opening ceremony. More than 100,000 people have so far taken part in the poll, which is ongoing, Sina.com.cn claimed.

Wu Yikang, chairman of the Shanghai Institute of European Studies, said Sarkozy's inconsistency regarding China is not up to the standard of a thoughtful and responsible statesman.

"Sarkozy's gesture of setting conditions for his attendance at the Beijing Olympics is an unfriendly move toward China. It shows his immaturity and carelessness as a politician," Wu said in an interview with the Beijing-based Global Times.

"The Chinese government will certainly not yield to his move," Wu said.

During a visit to China last year, during which the two countries signed business deals worth billions of euros, Sarkozy said he wanted to "book a seat" for the Beijing Olympics.

But after the March riots in Lhasa, the French leader said he had not ruled out the possibility of boycotting the Games.

"Some people are acting as if China is begging them to attend the Games," Wu said.

"But no one can achieve anything positive by playing the Olympic card or by linking the Games to politics."

Sarkozy is a politician and I believe we should judge him by his political achievement and not by his casanova achievement.

What really count are his dualistic economic initiatives have been effective and the French people love it.