Francois Hollande mixes up Japan with China
Francois Hollande, the French president, was left red-faced in Tokyo on Friday after confusing his Japanese hosts with the Chinese.
Mr Hollande, left, made no attempt to correct his mistake Photo: AFP
By AFP
3:24PM BST 07 Jun 2013
During a press conference, Mr Hollande, speaking in French, referred to the Algerian hostage crisis in January in which 10 Japanese nationals died, saying he had "expressed the condolences of the French people to the Chinese people."
Mr Hollande, who is in Japan on a three-day state visit, the first by a French president in 17 years, made no attempt to correct his mistake.
A quick-thinking female interpreter fixed the verbal gaffe as she gave her simultaneous translation, rendering the sentence as it had been intended.
However, at least one Japanese journalist with knowledge of French picked up on the error.
Relations between Japan and China are frequently testy, clouded by differences over history and coloured by a territorial dispute.
Polls in both countries show distrust of the other nation is rife and neither side's nationals like to be confused with the other.
Mr Hollande meanwhile said that Japan's big spending and ultra-loose monetary policies aimed at boosting its flagging economy were "good news" for austerity-weary Europe.
On a visit to Tokyo, the Socialist leader also stressed his concern at regional tensions as Japan and China square off over disputed islands – but slipped up verbally by confusing his hosts for the Chinese.
Amid a growing backlash in France over the German-led austerity drive for debt-laden Europe, Hollande called for the same "priority on growth" being stridently promoted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"The Japanese government has taken a number of measures since Mr Abe's team came to power," he told reporters. "It is not for me to judge them; they are a matter for Japan.
"But the priority given to growth and the fight against deflation, along with the emphasis on competitiveness for business ... is good news for Europe, because in Europe we also have to give priority to growth."
Mr Abe was swept to power in December on a pledge to turn around years of economic weakness and growth-sapping deflation.
