China condemns Paris honour to Dalai Lama

Relations between France and China were strained by Tibetprotests that disrupted the passage of the Beijing OlympicGames torch through Paris earlier this month.

Angry Chinese citizens have responded by urging boycotts ofFrench goods and companies, especially the retailer Carrefour.

As French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese PresidentHu Jintao were seeking to heal rifts by sending envoys to eachother, Paris city hall on Monday honoured the Dalai Lama, theexiled Buddhist leader whom China blames for unrest in Tibetanareas.

The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959, has longcalled for greater Tibetan autonomy and freedom. He says heopposes violent protest and demands for outright Tibetanindependence, but China calls him a hypocrite.

China praised Sarkozy's conciliatory acts but warned thatthe Paris move would hurt relations with France.

"This act is crude interference in China's domestic affairsand has seriously damaged China-French ties," Chinese ForeignMinistry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on itswebsite (http://www.fmprc.gov.cn).

Noting that China was already angry about the protests thatdogged the torch relay, Jiang called honouring the Dalai Lamaanother dangerous signal.

"For the Paris city council to make the Dalai an 'honorarycitizen of Paris' now can only be considered as another graveprovocation of 1.3 billion Chinese people, including the peopleof Tibet, and it will further encourage the arrogance of theDalai and Tibet independence elements."

The Chinese President has sent a former Chinese ambassadorto France as a special envoy in a bid to cool tensions withFrance, Jiang earlier told a news conference. And Sarkozy isalso this week sending several officials to Beijing.

Opponents of Chinese rule and policies in Tibet havetargeted the Olympic relay around the world, but the Parisprotests caused most anger in China after images showed aChinese wheelchair athlete, Jin Jing, having to shield theflame from protesters.

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets ofsome Chinese cities in recent days to denounce France and callfor a boycott of French goods.

Spokeswoman Jiang praised Sarkozy for writing a friendlyletter to Jin, the athlete. But she also warned the FrenchPresident not to shift on Tibet and the Olympic protests.

Jiang called on Sarkozy and his government to "support theChinese government in protecting social stability".

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)