HAPPY NEW YEAR!
In France the year began with the usual fireworks of burning
cars (more than 1000) on New Year's Eve and numerous clashes with police that
saw ten police officers wounded, two of them seriously, and 510 troublemakers
arrested. Most of the incidents occurred in the outlying areas of Paris, where
high unemployment, poverty, and a concentration of immigrants lie at the core
of much of the unrest. For the young men among them car burning on New Year's Eve
has become their preferred way of letting off steam and pent-up frustration.
In Paris, on the other hand, Mayor Anne Hidalgo had organized a
grand show of music and projections at the Arc de Triomphe that drew 300,000
people to the Champs Elysées where a heavy police presence assured the safety
of the packed crowd. It was a successful exercise in crowd protection in this
country where the threat of a terrorist attack is always present.
In more ways than one the year 2017 ended with a bang. After
two earlier winter storms that caused flooding and cuts in electricity but
luckily cost only one human life, hurricane Carmen hit France's Atlantic Coast
on December 31st with local gusts of such force that it knocked down a
67-meter-high wind turbine in the Vendée area. The 260-ton turbine snapped off
just above its base in the first incident of this kind. An ongoing
investigation will determine whether this might have been caused by a mini
tornado.
CATHERINE DENEUVE
A storm of another kind was unleashed by the publication of
a letter signed by Catherine Deneuve and 100 other French women in the
respected daily
Le Monde in response
to the #MeToo movement and its French equivalent #
Balancetonporc (Snitch on your Pig) that famously took down the
Hollywood mogul and sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. The signatories denounced
the flood of accusations of certain acts such as touching a knee, trying to
steal a kiss, wolf whistles, clumsy compliments etc. as "sexual harassment."
Women can say No to unwanted attention from men who, nevertheless, should be
allowed to flirt, was the message. "Rape is a crime but insistent or
clumsy flirting is not, nor is gallantry a macho aggression." The lack of
distinction may be due to a form of American puritanism, the letter implied.
The inevitable backlash soon followed, led by Italian actress Asia Argento, among the first to accuse Harvey Weinstein, and soon was taken up by
the foreign press. A week later, Catherine Deneuve accepted an interview from Libération wherein she clarified that
she had signed the letter because she agreed with its premise but later took
exception with the statements of certain signatories on French television. She
stated that she did not consider herself a feminist ("I am a free woman
and don't belong to any group") and reminded the interviewer that in 1971
she had signed the "Manifesto of the 343 Sluts," a declaration of 343
advocates for women's reproductive rights who admitted publicly that they had
had an abortion when it was illegal in France. Feeling misinterpreted by her
accusers, she nevertheless offered apologies to those victims of real sexual
abuse who might have been offended by the letter she co-signed. Calm has returned... for now.
MACRON IN CHINA
"When the winds of change start blowing, some will
build walls, others windmills"— Chinese proverb. France will build
windmills, says President Macron.
On January 7th, Emmanuel Macron began a three-day state
visit to China with a view to boosting Europe's economic ties with China and
increasing France's global influence. In the wake of Brexit and Germany's difficulties
in forming a coalition government, Macron has been filling the void by taking
on the role of European leader. His wife Brigitte and some 50 French business
leaders accompanied him on the trip.
After visiting Xi'An, the ancient imperial city and hub of the old silk roads, and the
impressive terra-cotta army of 8000 warriors, the Macrons flew to Beijing where
they were given a tour of the Forbidden City. Taking a clue from China's panda
diplomacy, Macron offered President Xi-Jinping a magnificent 8-year old gelding
from the Garde Républicaine, complete with its special saddle and a sabre. He
also brought two messages: first, the tremendous possibilities that closer
cooperation between China and Europe could bring and his total commitment to
that effort; and second, the growing concern in Europe and elsewhere over
China's unfair trade practices and the resulting trade deficit of €30 billion
in France alone. France and the EU want more reciprocity in their trade
relations with China and also want to take advantage of China's $1 trillion New
Silk Road Initiative, which Macron says must be a two-way road. "After
all, the ancient Silk Road was never only Chinese".
Several multibillion-euro contracts were signed during this
visit, notably with Airbus (184 planes) and with Areva for the construction of
a nuclear-waste treatment plant in China.
Before leaving, Macron promised to come back to China at
least once a year, presumably with wife Brigitte who is very popular in China
where their unusual marriage is viewed as "very romantic".
WINNERS AND LOSERS
As Emmanuel Macron keeps gaining in popularity and
international status, Donald Trump seems to be doing everything he can to turn
the world against him. Latest case in point: Switzerland.
No sooner had President Trump announced that he planned to
attend the 2018 World Economic Forum in Davos later this month than the Swiss
campaign group Campax launched a petition to keep Donald Trump away from Davos.
The petition gathered more than 12000 signatures on its first day. Trump, who
would be the first sitting US president in 20 years to attend the Forum,
intends to present his America First agenda to the audience of world leaders
and business executives. As Campax explained in its petition, "A person
who does not believe in anything that constitutes, in our view, a civilized society,
has no place here in Switzerland." This statement was issued a day after
Trump made his infamous remark on immigrants from "shithole
countries" that met with worldwide condemnation, including from the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations in Geneva.
This follows London's rejection of a Trump visit by London
Mayor Sadiq Kahn last year after Theresa May had invited him because he feared
massive anti-Trump demonstrations and could not guarantee Mr. Trump's safety.
When Trump announced last week that he would not go to London to open the new
American embassy there, Mr. Kahn tweeted: "It appears that President Trump
got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and the
Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city's
values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance. [...] Let's hope that Donald Trump also revisits
the pursuit of his divisive agenda."
Who could have believed in pre-Trump days that any country
would openly object to the visit of an American president? Times have changed,
and so has America, sadly not for the better.
