( FILES ) File photo showing Torch relay carrier Chinese Paralympic fencer Jin Jing clutching the torch and surrounded by French Police , near the Eiffel Tower after a dozen of activists tried to interrupt the Olympic Torch route in Paris , France , 07 April 2008 . Jin , who became a national hero in China for defending the Olympic torch in Paris from pro - Tibet protesters , received a personal letter on 21 April 2008 , two weeks after the incident , from French President Nicolas Sarkozy , delivered by Senate President Christian Poncelet . In the letter Sarkozy referred to the attack as ' intolerable ', and said he ' condemns it with the utmost force . ' Jin later expressed her disappointment to the press that Sarkozy ' expressed regret , shock and condemnation but no apology . ' Sino - French relations have deteriorated after the Olympic Flame incidents , and by the Paris Mayor decision of naming the Dalai Lama and jailed disident Hu Jia ' Paris ' citizens of honor '. EPA / YOAN VALAT < 저작권자 ⓒ 2007 연 합 뉴 스 . 무단 전재 - 재 배포 금지 . >