ADMITTING the patriotism of those calling for the boycott of French retailer Carrefour, several senior Chinese intellectuals Saturday called on the public to choose a rational way to express their love for the country.

“What happened in France showed that some French people did lack true understanding of China, including the Tibet issue,” said Zhou Xing, professor with the College of Art and Communication of Beijing Normal University.

“But I think what we should do is improve foreigners’ understanding about China. We had better not turn extreme,” he said.

Online and text message calls for boycotts of Carrefour and other foreign retailers have been spreading in China in response to the disruptions of the Olympic torch relay in Paris.

Chinese Internet search engine Baidu turned up about 211,000 entries supporting the boycott of Carrefour by Wednesday.

Being a responsible country, China should develop friendship with other countries, said Zhang Shengjun, deputy dean of Institute of Political Science and International Studies of the Beijing Normal University.

“I think it will be a better way to win understanding and support worldwide by introducing the positive side of the country and people,” Zhang said.

As China is well connected with the rest of the world, it will have to deal with conflicts, said Zhang Xingxing, deputy director of the Institute of Contemporary China Studies. “Whether or not it handles them well affects the country’s future development.”

In an article released by Xinhua news agency Sunday, Chinese people were also urged to stay rational.

In a statement Wednesday, Carrefour China pledged that Carrefour had not and would not do anything to hurt Chinese people’s feelings.(Xinhua)