China's President, Mr Jiang Zemin, left Britain for France yesterday at the end of a four-day visit marked by protest and controversy. His stay in France could prove to be equally turbulent.
Mr Jiang and his wife have been invited to spend the weekend at the 16th century chateau home of the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, in his native department of Correze.
Mr Alain Madelin, president of the Liberal Democracy party, referred earlier this week to "Chinese Pinochets" and said he found Mr Chirac's hospitality troubling.
Mr Jiang ended his visit to Britain yesterday with a tough speech rejecting demands for China to change its policies on human rights and Tibet.
While British officials spent the last hours of the historic visit dismissing reports that Prince Charles had snubbed Mr Jiang by failing to turn up for a dinner on Thursday night at the Chinese embassy, the president went on his own offensive against protesters. "In today's China, top priority should still be given to ensuring the greatest possible majority of its people have the right to subsistence and development, otherwise there would be no other rights to speak of," he told students and professors at Cambridge University.
"To ensure these rights for our people is in itself a major contribution to the progress of the world human rights cause. Collective and individual human rights have to go hand in hand."
During his Cambridge visit, groups opposing China's claims to Taiwan and Tibet (including those shown above) were furious at what appeared to be a blatant attempt to screen protesters from the Chinese leader's view.