Deputy Buon Tan, relay of influence of China in the National Assembly

Only one vote against. French MP Buon Tan has come to light by opposing the resolution passed by the National Assembly on January 20, to recognize as genocide the repression of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, China. La République en Marche (LRM), the presidential majority group to which Mr. Tan belongs, had let its members vote freely on the text – it was adopted with 169 votes in favor and 5 abstentions. “I didn’t think for a moment that I could be the only one to vote against. The text is ineffective, even counterproductive, it does not help the cause”explained the parliamentarian to the Worldtaking up an argument developed by other political groups on the weak legal scope of the resolution, and denying having wanted to give any pledge to Beijing by this vote.

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President of the France-China friendship group, secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the elected representative of the 9e constituency of Paris, in the Chinatown of 13e district, is not known for its critical positions vis-à-vis Beijing. He even assumes his role as a relay of influence: “The current trend is China bashing. The basis of the problems between two countries is the misunderstanding of each otherhe assures. And I can decipher a lot of things that my colleagues don’t see. » Asked about the “wolf fighter” diplomacy of the Chinese ambassador in Paris, Lu Shaye, who multiplied the invectives against France during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: “The invectives, in both directions, are useless. My job is to make things easier. » Mr. Tan assumes, therefore.

Since January 20, however, the zeal of the deputy has attracted criticism. He has just had Parliament adopt a information report “on the strategy of France and Europe with regard to China”, co-produced with MP Bérengère Poletti (Republicans). A document he considers “pragmatic, efficient”. Without asperities, the report passes quickly on the evolution more and more repressive of the mode of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. “The report is a bit flat” about Taiwan, the Uighurs and Hong Kong, reproached, on February 9, the centrist Jean-Louis Bourlanges, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, expressing his « trouble ».

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“I did not understand your vote on the Uighur resolution, many did not understand it”, more directly challenged the deputy Michel Herbillon (LR). “I didn’t understand your attitude either when we received the Chinese ambassador, when you said that some Members had taken an initiative in favor of a motion for a resolution on Taiwan’s access to international organisations. I was obliged to recall that it had been signed by almost all the parliamentary groups with two exceptions and by the vast majority of deputies. »

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