Socialist¹ Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe engaged in "a full political stunt²" when he met the Dalai Lama and bestowed³ upon him honorary citizenship⁴ of the French capital, Chinese experts said.

On Sunday afternoon, Delanoe hosted the Dalai Lama at a ceremony in Paris, despite objections from China.

The step irked Beijing at a time when relations between France and China had just begun to thaw⁵, Reuters reported.

However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy distanced himself from the meeting, describing it as "a municipal matter", not "an act of state", according to the BBC.

Wu Baiyi, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said the complexity⁶ of politics in France resulted in inconsistent behavior between politicians in the national government and those in the capital city.

The Socialist Party, which Delanoe represents, was the main opposition⁷ to Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election.

"The Sarkozy government has distanced itself from Delanoe's meeting with the Dalai Lama as it learned the lesson from the last Sino-French relationship crisis. But Sarkozy could do little about Paris City Hall's decision," Wu said.

Zhao Junjie, an expert in European studies with the CASS, said Delanoe, as a Socialist Party member, met the Dalai Lama to "intensify⁸ the competition with the opposite party." Zhao added he "played the political stunt to its full", risking hurting Chinese people's feelings.

The Foreign Ministry⁹ yesterday condemned¹⁰ the Paris city government's move.

"The behavior ... can only create serious damage to cooperation between Paris and relevant cities in China and has created grave interference in relations between China and France," it said in a statement.