The President's visit to France ushered in a new era of diplomacy.
Included in the "New China Diplomacy" series, Chen Qiyuan, former Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Strasbourg, wrote this article. The article documents the President's state visit to France, which took place from 8 to 12 September 1994.
During this visit, he held talks with Francois Mitterrand, met with Prime Minister ElBaradeir, Senator Monoli and other important leaders, delivered important speeches, and had extensive contacts with French political and economic figures.
This visit has broken the restrictions imposed by the European Community on the exchange of visits by heads of state to our country, is a breakthrough in our relations with Western Europe, marks the bankruptcy of the West's policy of isolating our country, is a major victory for our country's diplomacy, and is of great significance and has a far-reaching impact on the further improvement and development of China's relations with Western countries.
This visit is also an important milestone in the history of Sino-French relations.
On September 9, 1994, the President visited France and held talks with Français Mitterrand at the Élysée Palace. In the late 80s and early 90s of the 20th century, Sino-French relations experienced some twists and turns and difficulties, but it was against this background that this visit was made.
The French side attaches great importance to this visit, and the reception standard can be regarded as the highest level. The leaders of the two countries delivered enthusiastic speeches, and then took a bulletproof car to the state guesthouse to stay.
Mitterrand accompanied him into the living room of the large suite, where they exchanged gifts. The visit reflected the improvement of relations between the two countries and laid the foundation for future cooperation.
On September 9, 1994, the heads of state of China and France inspected the honor guard of the three services at the airport. Subsequently, France's **Mitterrand held a state banquet of high standard, exceeding the banquet that welcomed the United States ** Clinton and the British Queen Elizabeth, with more than 230 guests, which is rare in the state banquets held at the Elysee Palace in recent years.
The climax of the banquet was repeated, and the famous French actress Michel Mathieu sang the Chinese folk song "Jasmine" in Chinese, which won warm applause from the audience.
Château de Marseille, France, ** cordially met with the representatives of international students and asked them about their majors. He encouraged the scholars to study hard and serve their country, and shared his past experiences of attending international conferences and visits in Grenoble and Aix-en-Ax in the south of France.
During the visit, at a lecture held by the Franco-Chinese Committee, the audience was briefed on China's reform and opening up and China's policies toward Western European countries. His speech was substantial, and the four principles were highly praised by the French people.
The speech was held in the Gabriel Hall in the center of the city, and about 800 people from the French business and political circles attended, and gave warm applause to the speech. In order to promote the further development of economic and trade relations between China and France, ** also visited the nuclear power plant and the Airbus aircraft company.
At the Bleyer Nuclear Power Plant, I learned about the construction and management of the French nuclear power plant, which has sent engineers and technicians to participate in the construction and management of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, and has made important contributions to the economic and trade cooperation between China and France.
The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant started construction in 1987 and was successfully completed and connected to the grid in 1994, becoming one of the landmark achievements of China-France cooperation in the economic and trade fields.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the visit, the French side has adopted strict security measures, mobilized a large number of police forces, and taken strict measures against anti-China activities.
Perrefit, a former French minister and member of the National Assembly, once published a monograph entitled "When China Wakes Up, the World Will Shake", predicting that China's economy will take off.
On the eve of his visit to France, Perefette said that China has woken up economically and is moving forward. The French news media reacted positively to the visit and generally spoke highly of it, believing that the visit marked the end of the West's policy of excluding China, and opened a new page in Sino-French relations and began to enter a new milestone.