u=1101720049,460244984&fm=21&gp=0.jpg (Photo : baidu.com)
The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France marks its 50th anniversary on Jan. 27.
France is the first country which China had established diplomatic ties with and these ties have gone beyond the typical bilateral ties. Soft power interchanges between China and France have contributed greatly to the furtherance of bilateral ties that now exist between the two countries. Both nations have a rich cultural heritage that had a great impact on art, literature, political thought and technology.
The Chinese have long since shown interest in French culture and literature. Noted French literary works by Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac, Alexanre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert and Emile Zola have given the Chinese people a deeper knowledge of France and its culture and also of other European nations. The French also have a keen interest in Chinese culture with Sinology flourishing in Paris as far back as the 17th century. With China's immense growth and development in past decades, the French attention to Chinese culture also grew.
It was the cultural exchanges that began prior to the modern era that set the ground of friendly relations between China and France. It was France's soft power and autonomous foreign policy which caused France to form diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1964 when the United States and its allies saw China as a foe. This aggressive move by France was accepted and reciprocated by China.
It was France that brought out the concept of a "multipolar world" stressing the role of the United Nations in encouraging dialogue to end disputes and settle disagreements. This mirrored China's foreign policy and aided the two nations to work side by side for the good of the whole international community.
China and France being permanent members of the UN Security Council have assumed a collaborative role in preserving world peace and in fighting hegemony. And it is the marked parallelisms in their foreign policies that have strengthened ties between the two nations.
