Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday expressed his condolences to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron the day after former head of state Jacques Chirac disappeared, greeting an "old friend of China," according to public television.
Former French President Jacques Chirac "has made important contributions to the establishment and development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France (...) and the promotion of mutual exchanges between the East and the South. the West, "said Xi Jinping in his message, according to reports reported by CCTV.
Love of Asian arts
Known for his love of Asian arts, Jacques Chirac left a great memory in China, a country for which the former French president had a deep interest as well as for his civilization. "His unfortunate disappearance is a major loss for France and the French, and the Chinese people have also lost an old friend and good friend," Xi said.
The death of the former French president was Thursday night the second most commented topic on the social network Weibo, the equivalent in China of Twitter. "He loved Chinese culture," enthused a surfer, while another considered that under Chirac's presidency "the Sino-French relations had been the most harmonious".
He knew on the fingertips the chronology of the Chinese dynasties
Several Chinese interlocutors who rubbed shoulders with the former French president like to recall that he knew on the fingertips the chronology of the Chinese dynasties. Jacques Chirac visited China for the first time in 1978, when the country began a timid opening. He was at the time one of the few foreigners to visit the ancient imperial capital Xi'an (center) and his terracotta army, recalls the official press.
On May 15, 1997, Jacques Chirac was the first French head of state in 14 years to visit China, after the cooling of relations between the two countries linked to arms sales in Taiwan, an independent de facto island but that China considers an integral part of its territory. After leaving the Elysee, Jacques Chirac had maintained close ties with Chinese leaders. On April 28 and 29, 2009, he was received in Beijing as "old friend of China" by then President Hu Jintao and his predecessor Jiang Zemin.