Interesting analysis. But PRC is also part of the security council and has far reaching influence into the 3rd world in SE Asia, Africa, and South America. The biggest arms supplier to PRC is still Russia. Not to mention there is a schism between France and the USA.
So from a political point of view France has been slighted and there is not much they can do about it.
Look if every PRC citizen decided to buy a fake LV bag, instead of those 1% that buy real ones, France economy would go into a tail spin.
Everytime I go to to Paris they still mistaken me to be a rich PRC tourist, all of a sudden they speak Chinese, and are so nice. Not like my provincial Quebecquois or Americanize English impresses them. So in terms of luxury brand retail market, it would seem the PRC still holds some sway.
[quote=“TNT”][quote=“the bear”][quote=“ac_dropout”]Well GW Bush defended his opportunity to go to the Olympics for fears of affronting the Chinese which would negatively impact future dialogues with China.
There is no way France is a prestigious as the USA when it comes to world affairs. So it is okay that they stay home and eat freedom fries with a side of tears.
These are the views of the average American.[/quote]
wtf is this average American shit? average obnoxious ABC/parachute kid perhaps…[/quote]
AC
It keeps me awake at night so….do the average views of an American = views of an average American?
Can I cancel the average by dividing both sides by average?[/quote]
The key is reducing the American to its fundimental identity and then canceling like terms on both sides of the equations.
[quote=“the bear”][quote=“ac_dropout”]Well GW Bush defended his opportunity to go to the Olympics for fears of affronting the Chinese which would negatively impact future dialogues with China.
There is no way France is a prestigious as the USA when it comes to world affairs. So it is okay that they stay home and eat freedom fries with a side of tears.
These are the views of the average American.[/quote]
wtf is this average American shit? average obnoxious ABC/parachute kid perhaps…[/quote]
The average American is obnoxious, oh please, you sound like a Frenchman now.
So Sarkozy and Bush are going, but Harper, Brown, and Merkel are out. Every once in a while, Harper gets it just right. [quote=“Globe and Mail”]Prime Minister Stephen Harper is resisting growing pressure to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, but his Trade Minister Michael Fortier insisted Sunday that the Prime Minister’s absence would have no lasting impact on bilateral relations.
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae accused Mr. Harper Sunday of being locked in a Cold War mentality and undoing years of Canada-China rapprochement with no resulting benefit in advancing human rights.
In the aftermath of China’s crackdown on Tibetan protesters, Mr. Harper said he would not attend the Games because he had conflicts on his schedule, a decision that was seen by China-watchers as a thinly-veiled message of disapproval.
At the time, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was talking about boycotting the opening ceremonies, while U.S. President George W. Bush, facing pressure from Congress and human-rights advocates to stay away, had not indicated his decision.
Last week, Mr. Sarkozy did an about-face and announced he would attend the ceremonies, which the Chinese see as their coming-of-age moment on the world stage. Before meeting with leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations last week, Mr. Bush said he, too, would attend the extravaganza, adding that a boycott would be “an affront to the Chinese people.”
Mr. Harper, who has presided over a chilling of relations with China, will be joined in his absence by Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, although he insists he is not participating in a boycott. [/quote]
