【英语生活】中国留学生法国遇袭或影响两国葡萄酒贸易

A violent attack over the weekend on a group of Chinese students in the French region of Bordeaux has sparked a diplomatic outcry amid trade tensions that have threatened the budding wine commerce between the two countries.

Chinese and French government officials, in multiple statements, strongly condemned the attack, in which three young French men allegedly assaulted a group of visiting Chinese students in the village of Hostens, 30 miles south of the city of Bordeaux, seriously injuring at least one of them.

According to authorities and local media reports, the incident started late Friday when one of the students, who local media reports said were in the region to study wine, asked three noisy men to quiet down. The trio then tried to enter into the students' residence, Bordeaux prosecutor's spokeswoman Agnès Auboin said, resulting in a fight. She said there were five Chinese students though earlier reports put the number at six. One female student was seriously injured after being hit by a bottle in the face, authorities said. Her injuries weren't believed to be life-threatening. Other students suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

Ms. Auboin described the attackers as intoxicated and said they shouted racial insults at the Chinese students. The spokeswoman said three men between the ages of 18 and 20 were arrested later that evening in connection with the attack. The office opened a formal investigation against the men Monday.

The attack comes at a precarious moment for France as China has emerged in recent years to become the world's fifth-largest wine consumer and a major buyer of Bordeaux's wines. France's luxury-goods industry, which includes wineries, has also sounded the alarm that an increase in violence and petty crime toward visitors could damage tourism, vital to the country's economy.

The world's largest wine fair, called Vinexpo, opened Sunday in Bordeaux and is hosting hundreds of Chinese buyers. Meanwhile, the European Union and China are embroiled in a trade dispute with China accusing Europe of dumping cheap wine and hurting domestic producers.

About half of China's imported bottled wine came from France last year, with much of that from Bordeaux, France's most important wine region. Bordeaux's vineyards have been increasingly snapped up by wealthy Chinese investors, which has stirred emotions in the proud wine-growing area.

The incident spurred a diplomatic dance between France and China, as French leaders have gone to great lengths to speak out against the incident while Chinese officials keep mentioning the issue. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at its daily briefing on Monday in Beijing that the country 'expresses strong condemnation' of the attacks, adding that China has its own representative looking into the case to 'bring the perpetrators to justice and take effective measures to protect the safety and rights of Chinese in France.' A similar statement was issued on Sunday by the Chinese Embassy in Paris.

French leaders have been quick to try to defuse a potential backlash from China. At the opening news conference for Vinexpo on Sunday, French Agricultural Minister Stéphane Le Foll called the attacks 'xenophobic' and 'inadmissible.' Earlier on the weekend, the French Interior Minister Manuel Valls similarly said he 'condemned with great severity this xenophobic act.' Both are members of the ruling Socialist Party.

As China grows increasingly infatuated with French wines, more young Chinese are enrolling in French schools to learn about the alcoholic beverage. Lu Qingqing, a 27-year-old native of China's Hubei province recently completed her sommelier studies in Provence in the south of France and said there has been a proliferation of wine programs geared toward Chinese students, especially in Bordeaux. While she didn't encounter any racial tension herself during her nearly four years in France, she says the Chinese presence can be a particularly touchy topic in Bordeaux.

'The French think châteaux and terroir [the specific geographic region a wine comes from] are part of their patrimony, and when Chinese people come and buy the wines and vineyards, they think 'We don't have any more for ourselves,'' she said from Beijing, where she now resides.

At the same time, the French luxury-goods industry is concerned that foreigners are being singled out for attack. The Comité Colbert, a trade group that represents brands including Chanel and Hermès, as well as the Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau d'Yquem wineries that belong to luxury-goods giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, MC.FR +1.07% recently met with the French finance minister following two incidents. 'The Comité Colbert shared its concern about the violence towards tourists and the consequence for an economic sector that is essential to France,' the group said in a statement.

JASON CHOW in Hong Kong / INTI LANDAURO in Paris

上周末一群中国留学生在法国波尔多地区遭暴力袭击一事引发中国外交抗议。此时恰逢贸易紧张局势威胁到中法两国正在发展壮大的葡萄酒贸易之际。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images周日，法国农业部长勒福尔（右）在波尔多会见中国官员。中法两国政府官员都多次发表声明，强烈谴责这次袭击事件。据称法国三名年轻男子袭击了到访奥斯唐(Hostens)村庄的一群中国留学生，其中至少一人伤势严重。奥斯唐位于波尔多市以南30英里（约合48公里）处。

据有关部门表示以及当地媒体报道，事件始于上周五，当时其中一名中国留学生要求这三个吵闹的男子安静下来。当地媒体报道称，这些留学生在该地研究葡萄酒。波尔多检方发言人奥布安(Agnes Auboin)说，之后这三人试图闯入中国留学生的住所，双方打了起来。她说，现场有五名中国留学生。早前的报道称是六名。有关部门说，一名女学生的脸被瓶子砸到，伤势严重。有关部门说，据信她的伤势没有生命危险，其他学生伤势较轻。

这位发言人称，袭击者当时已经醉酒，并且对中国留学生进行了带有种族主义色彩的辱骂。她说，这三人年龄在18到20岁之间，已因涉嫌袭击于当晚晚些时候被捕。波尔多检方周一对这三人展开了正式调查。

这次袭击事件发生的时间对法国来说颇为不妙，因为中国近年来已成为全球第五大葡萄酒消费国，也是波尔多葡萄酒的重要买家。法国奢侈品行业(包括葡萄酒)也警告称，针对访问法国的外籍人士的暴力和轻微犯罪数量增加，这可能打击对法国经济而言至关重要的旅游业。

全球规模最大的葡萄酒展会国际葡萄酒及烈酒展览会(Vinexpo)周日在波尔多拉开帷幕，目前正在接待数百位中国买家。此外，欧盟和中国目前陷入了一场贸易纠纷中，中国指责欧洲向其倾销廉价葡萄酒，损害了本国生产商利益。

去年，中国进口的瓶装葡萄酒约有一半来自法国，其中主要来自法国最重要的葡萄酒产地波尔多地区。波尔多葡萄园越来越受到富有的中国投资者的抢购，这让该葡萄种植区以此为傲的当地人不满。

这一事件引发了中法两国间的外交互动，法国领导人已高调谴责这一事件，中方官员则不断提到这一问题。中国外交部周一在一个例行记者会上表示，中方对中国留学生在法国遭暴力攻击事件表示强烈谴责，并表示，中方已派工作人员赶赴事发地，中方已向法方提出交涉，要求法方妥善处理此案，依法严惩凶手，并采取切实措施，维护法中国公民的安全及正当合法权益。中国驻法大使馆也于周日发表了一则类似的声明。

法国领导人已迅速行动试图平息中方可能出现的强烈反应。法国农业部长勒福尔(Stephane Le Foll)周日在国际葡萄酒暨烈酒展的开幕新闻发布会上表示，这一攻击事件是排外的，是不可接受的。上周末法国内政部长瓦尔斯(Manuel Valls)同样表示，强烈谴责这一排外事件。他们都是法国执政党社会党成员。

在法国葡萄酒在中国市场越来越受欢迎之际，中国赴法学习葡萄酒专业的留学生也有所增多。现年27岁来自中国湖北省的陆青青（音）近期完成了在法国南部普罗旺斯的品酒师学业，她表示，目前专门针对中国学生的葡萄酒科目已有所增加，尤其是在波尔多。尽管她在法国求学的近四年时间里没有遭遇任何种族歧视，但她称，在波尔多中国人的存在是一个非常敏感的话题。

她在目前的居住地北京表示，法国人将酒庄和葡萄酒产地视为民族遗产的一部分，当中国人前来购买葡萄酒和葡萄园，他们就会认为自己的遗产受到了侵害。

与此同时，法国的奢侈品行业也在担心外国人被选为攻击对象。法国精品业联合会(Comite Colbert)近期在两起攻击事件过后与法国财长举行了会议。该组织在一则声明中称，已表达了对游客受到攻击事件以及此类事件对法国至关重要的奢侈品行业的影响的担忧。法国精品业联合会是代表香奈儿(Chanel)、爱马仕(Hermes)以及奢侈品巨头路威酩轩集团(LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton)旗下白马酒庄(Chateau Cheval Blanc)和伊甘酒庄(Chateau d'Yquem)等品牌的贸易组织。

JASON CHOW 发自香港 / INTI LANDAURO发自巴黎

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