Sarkozy is not interested in Japan

After suffering disappointment when Nicola Sarkozy’s celebrity wife didn’t come to Hokkaido for the G8 summit, the Japanese press faced another minor issue when the French President showed very little interest in having a bilateral meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister:

Concern was spreading among Japanese diplomats that Sarkozy was showing little interest in the host nation and that he was giving premier Yasuo Fukuda the cold shoulder.

France’s president is the only G8 leader not to have held face-to-face talks with Fukuda so far.

And while Japan had penciled in such a meeting for Tuesday morning, France had not even considered the possibility, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily reported.

Japanese diplomats have been particularly surprised by the contrast between the current president and his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who was known for his love for Japan, and for its national sport Sumo in particular.

Chirac visited Japan more than 10 times during his presidency.

Speculation was arising that Sarkozy was trying to avoid being compared to the former French leader. But Asahi Shimbun quoted sources close to French diplomats as admitting that Sarkozy lacked any interest in Japan.

Few probably took notice of the story, especially since Sarkozy announced yesterday that he was planning to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympics – a particularly exciting piece of news because of anger Sarkozy had previously stirred earlier this year by suggesting an Olympic boycott over China’s handling of the Tibet issue. China’s leaders have said they will welcome Sarkozy, but ultranationalist Chinese netizens are still outraged:

This raised the ire of China’s vocal online community, with tens of thousands of netizens posting messages yesterday saying that the French leader was not welcome in Beijing.

“Who gives a damn (about his visit)?” said one of the 59,000 postings logged by Sina.com. “Even if he visits Beijing, the Chinese people will not welcome him.”

Sarkozy’s decision found no favour back home either, with the Paris-based rights group Reporters Without Borders slamming him for “betraying himself and Chinese dissidents”.

Adding fuel to the fire yesterday, European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering announced that he would boycott the opening ceremony due to the lack of progress in the Tibet talks, while Parliament also criticised Mr Sarkozy’s decision.

The latest development could reignite the anti-French and anti-Western sentiment that swept the mainland earlier this year after the Olympic torch relay was badly disrupted in cities like London and Paris.

But it is by no means the only political juggling act Beijing has to manage next month.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, for instance, is planning to fly into Beijing on a Japanese military plane, a move which could raise a nationalistic backlash on the mainland.