Alain Destrem, a councillor, on Tuesday criticized the Paris City Council's motion to hang a Tibetan flag in front of the City Hall, which he said would harm China-French relations.

Paris councillor Alain Destrem (2nd R) speaks in front of the City Hall in Paris, March 10, 2009. Destrem condemned on Tuesday the hanging of the so-called "Tibet independence" flag in front of the Paris City Hall on March 10 every year, which rampantly intervenes in China's internal affairs and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people. [Xinhua photo]

In January 2006, the council adopted a motion to hang a Tibetan flag every March 10.

"The motion could only end in two results: hurting the Chinese people's feelings and feeding the French press," Destrem, who is also vice president of the ruling UMP party, said during a council debate.

The Tibetan region is an integral part of China, he said. "What will you say if Chinese authorities constantly interfere in France's internal political affairs? What will you think if, for example, the Chinese government constantly tells France how to handle a crisis in its overseas territories?"

He asked the council to remove the Tibetan flag, which is a "provocation" to the Chinese.

Hours later, two people of Chinese origin arrived in front of the City Hall, and tore down the Tibetan flag in order to express their indignation toward the City Council's interference in China's internal affairs.

Destrem was pleased with the act. "I will file, in the name of myself and in the name of an elected Parisian, an anti-motion of the January 2006 one, because such useless provocations should be abolished," he said.

On March 10, 1959, the Dalai Lama and his supporters launched an armed rebellion in Tibet to block reform of the feudal serfdom there and split the region from China, but the Chinese central government swiftly foiled the attempt.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2009)