Since the Ping-Pong diplomacy of the early 1970s and the readmission of the People's Republic of China to the IOC in 1979 at a time when the Chinese Government was moving towards economic reform, Europe has watched closely the growth of China and its economic challenge to the USA and indeed other powerful economies. The European perceptions of, and reactions to Chinese successes have been contradictory. On one hand, much has been done by Europe to be included in the economic great match, for instance the strategic partnership between China and France forged on the initiative of President Jacques Chirac in 1997. On the other hand, concerns have been often expressed about other aspects of the Chinese society. Consequently, contradictions have been apparent in responses to Chinese sport successes and bids for the Olympic Games. Criticism had nowhere been stronger than in France, the self-proclaimed country of Human Rights. The Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 had an immense impact in France, where the bicentenary of the French Revolution had just been celebrated. This criticism culminated recently in Sgolne Royal's official demand for a Boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games during her campaign for the French Presidency, in 2007.
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