AS CALLS for a nationwide boycott of French retailers gather momentum, some worried Chinese commentators and state media are calling for cooler heads to prevail on the emotive issue.

The appeals appear to be aimed at preventing growing anti-French sentiments in China from snowballing into ugly public protests. Many Chinese were angry that the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Paris was disrupted by protesters.

The violent anti-Japanese protests, which hit several Chinese cities three years ago, began in similar fashion with calls to boycott the country's products. But with the Olympics less than four months away, observers say Beijing can ill afford a major diplomatic disaster in its own backyard.

Well-known television anchor Bai Yansong and disabled athlete Jin Jing, who became a national heroine overnight for defending the Olympic torch against protesters in Paris, also weighed in this week, saying that they do not support a boycott of French retailers or products.

Using largely similar arguments, they point out that such a boycott might end up hurting ordinary Chinese themselves. This is because China-based French retailers employ tens of thousands of local workers and their products are almost entirely made in China.

A commentary in The Beijing News said that it was 'not rational' for the public to support a retaliatory measure which would also hurt the country. The China Youth Daily urged ordinary Chinese not to play into the hands of 'agitators' who are precisely hoping to turn the Beijing Olympics into a messy affair.

It is unclear, however, whether these appeals would have any impact. Large numbers of Chinese Internet users are still backing calls to boycott French brands such as Louis Vuitton and L'Oreal if results from online polls yesterday are any indication.

Supermarket chain Carrefour, which has borne the brunt of the anti-French sentiment in China, has already been hit with at least two small-scale protests in Beijing and Kunming in south-western Yunnan province. Internet users here are calling on Chinese consumers to boycott Carrefour stores across China on May 1.

This simmering public anger prompted Carrefour China's president Eric Legros to issue a statement on Tuesday saying that the company 'has never, and will not do anything that will hurt the feelings of the Chinese people'.

Meanwhile, the signs are that US brands could soon become the next target of boycott calls following a spat between Beijing and Washington over the recent unrest in Tibet, and what officials here describe as 'biased and unfair' coverage by the American media.

Calls to boycott KFC, the popular American fast-food chain, have been quietly gathering steam after Beijing expressed anger at a US congressional resolution calling on China to end the crackdown in Tibet and reopen talks with the Dalai Lama.

Anti-US rhetoric on online forums here ratcheted up several notches this past week after the Chinese Foreign Ministry took US-based broadcaster CNN to task for commentator Jack Cafferty's remarks that mainland products were 'junk' and that its people are 'basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years'.

CNN clarified in a statement on Wednesday that Mr Cafferty's remark about 'goons' was in reference to China's leaders, and not the Chinese people, and apologised to anyone who felt otherwise.

This earned another sharp rebuke from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which summoned CNN's Beijing bureau chief to personally receive a formal protest from Beijing.

The ministry's spokesman, Mr Liu Jianchao, lambasted the international broadcaster for lacking moral and professional standards, adding: 'Journalistic professionals should abide by their ethics, and they don't have the privilege to slander or rail at anybody or any government.'

Observers, however, said Beijing's latest broadside against CNN could give critics in Washington more ammunition to pressure US President George W. Bush not to attend the Games opening ceremony on Aug 8.

Mr Bush has pledged to attend the Olympics but is under growing domestic pressure to change his mind.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on April 18, 2008

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