France issues stamps to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year of Tiger
January 24, 2022, 8:58 am

France issues stamps to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year of Tiger

Chinese Lunar New Year/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported that French postal service company La Poste on Saturday issued two stamps to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year of Tiger, which starts on Feb. 1.

Featuring a crouching tiger on a red background, one stamp applies to the domestic mail service in France for a face value of 1.16 euros.

The other, with a standing tiger looking to the distance on a blue background, has a denomination of 1.65 euros for international mail service.

Chinese artist Chen Jianghong, designer of the stamps, said the two tigers represent respectively strength and hope.

Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye said at the issuing ceremony: "Tiger is seen as the 'King of the beasts' in China. It represents justice, majesty and strength. Tiger also bears witness to the extraordinary efforts of the Chinese people in the protection of biodiversity and the harmonious coexistence of man and nature."

Chinese new year celebration in Paris/Pixabay

For his part, Philippe Wahl, president and chief executive officer of La Poste, said that the zodiac is a key part of Chinese culture, reflecting Chinese people's thinking on the relations between man and nature.

Wahl said La Poste has issued special-event stamps of the Chinese zodiac for many years, which helps the French people understand Chinese culture.

Egypt and France collaborate on environmental developments and discuss COP27

The Xinhua said that since 2005, the French post office has been celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year each year by issuing stamps featuring the year's zodiac animal.

France urges Britain to 'take its responsibilities' on migrants

It added, the Chinese Zodiac is represented by 12 animals to record the years and reflect people's attributes, including the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Source: xinhua

US orders families of embassy staff in Ukraine to leave amid fears of Russian invasion Australian pleaded guilty to abducting 4-year-old girl from her family tent

Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.