1949-2009: 60 Years in French Eye

60 years ago， China was a country devastated that had just recovered its national sove- reignty after a century of foreign invasions and internal conflicts， and extricated itself from the chapters of a tragic history: the Opium Wars and the unequal treaties， the Taiping Uprising， the Republican Revolution， the “warlords”， the Japanese occupation and the civil war.

But the new People’s Republic of China from the early fifties was not recognized by the UN and became the main target of the U.S. policy of “containment”.

In 2009 China has， according to the IMF， exceeded Japan and ranked as the second largest world economy. In half a century it has become again a political， economic， financial， scientific and sports power. This summer， it began a “strategic and economic dialogue” with the United States， at which the new president Barack Obama said that the relations between the two countries would “shape the 21st century”.

What a road has been traversed! Last year， China celebrated its thirty years of opening and modernization: never had the history of world economy seen a country with such a population achieve such a vigorous growth in such a short period of time. It has gone through deep social transformations and new challenges， and among others， enabled 400 million Chinese out of misery. These sixty years bear the deep imprint of two outstanding leaders: Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping who， through many trials have led their country to what it is today—a nation on the road of wealth and power， realizing the dream of the reformers and revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Their successors have to manage a new China and its strength and address its specific problems as well as the formidable common challenges of our globalizing world. During these sixty years， the new China has， as any large nation， allies and enemies， supporters and opponents， partners and competitors. But it can always find everywhere in the world friends who might be otherwise reduced to some of the previous categories.

Wherever they are， all share a common conviction.

The friendship among peoples which is much praised in speeches but fragile in fact， requires two conditions. The first is the acceptance of differences， even if they touch on crucial issues such as philosophical and political values or culture. The second is ceaseless efforts to deepen mutual understanding， so that dialogue always prevails， whatever the situation， even when it concerns State relations.

To look back， forty five years ago when France and China just established relations， General de Gaulle wrote: “Who knows if the affinities that obviously exist between the two nations in all that relates to spiritual matters， as shown in the fact that in their depth， they share sympathy and mutual respect， will not lead them to an increasing cooperation?” France and China are now engaged in a genuine “global partnership”: it is also the aim of our national federation to contribute to further opening our country to China， this rapidly changing country， to its great people and great culture， by constantly deepening and consolidating our bonds of friendship， and thus prove what Wang Bo， the poet of the Tang dynasty， wrote: “A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near”.

The author is president of the Federation of the French-Chinese Associations.