France's government scrambled Monday to tamp down tensions with Beijing and calm anti-French sentiment that has swelled in China since pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris. President Nicolas Sarkozy dispatched his top diplomatic adviser to China, where a French retail giant has become a boycott target, and he sent an emotional letter to a disabled Chinese athlete who struggled against a Paris protester trying to wrench the Olympic torch from her. In his letter to "Mademoiselle Jin Jing," Sarkozy noted the "bitterness" felt in China over the incident and insisted that several such attacks by protesters during the April 7 Paris torch stopover "do not reflect the feelings of my countrymen toward the Chinese people."

"You have shown remarkable courage that does you honor - and through you, honor to your country," he added. Jin, who uses a wheelchair, received the letter Monday in Shanghai from the visiting head of the French Senate.

But even as the national government tried to soften the tone, the Paris City Council took a step likely to anger China's leaders. It voted Monday to bestow the title of "honorary citizen" on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, as well as Hu Jia, a Chinese rights activist who was convicted on subversion charges earlier this month and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Chinese outrage over what their media portray as foreign interference in Tibet fanned protests across China over the weekend, some targeting stores of the French supermarket chain Carrefour. Messages on Chinese blogs called for a boycott of Carrefour.

Sarkozy previously threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games this summer in Beijing and has conditioned his presence on China opening dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Recent polls indicate most French would prefer that Sarkozy stay home.

Sarkozy's decision to send Jean-David Levitte, his top diplomatic envoy, to Beijing this week was seen as an effort to limit the damage to France's reputation - and business interests - in China.

Valerie Niquet, Asia director at the French Institute of International Relations, said it didn't appear likely Sarkozy would soften his insistence that Beijing talk with the Dalai Lama.

But, she added, "For the moment, there will certainly be a greater prudence in the use of some terms."

Niquet said she expected Levitte to express "France's incomprehension" that a "very violently anti-French" protest movement would be allowed to swell in China.

Officials at the French presidential palace said Levitte's trip was one of a series of regular meetings between the two countries and was not directly tied to the Olympic Games.

Jin, a little-known fencing athlete, became famous in China after clinging to the torch in her wheelchair while a Tibet supporter tried to grab it from her. It was not clear from various videos whether any protester touched Jin before security agents intervened.

In his letter to Jin, Sarkozy said he hoped "to erase this painful moment" and invited Jin to return to Paris as his "personal guest" in the coming weeks.

Thousands of protesters slowed the torch relay to a crawl in the French capital. Many were expressing anger that China is hosting the Olympics at a time when Beijing has pursued a crackdown in Tibet.

Opposition politicians said Sarkozy was reacting too slowly - nearly two weeks after the relay in Paris.

"I have the impression that the president and the government are trying to cling to the branches after the calamitous episode when the flame came through Paris," said Communist Party lawmaker Andre Gerin.

"It's a way of restoring France's image when it comes to the respect that we owe China," said Gerin, who is also vice president of the Friendship China group at the National Assembly.

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Associated Press writers Laurent Pirot and Emmanuel Georges-Picot contributed to this report.