Paris  - Top Greens politician in the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit Friday compared French President Nicolas Sarkozy's journey to the China Olympics to a handshake with dictator Adolf Hitler during the 1936 Olympics in then Nazi Germany.

He had hoped Sarkozy had refrained from travelling to the opening of the Olympic Games, Cohn-Bendit said in an interview with the French broadcaster France Inter, adding: "Was it right to shake Hitler's hand in Berlin in 1936?"

China was a totalitarian regime, said Cohn-Bendit, who is co- president of the Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA) Group in the European parliament.

Sarkozy, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, had delayed his decision to attend the ceremony following strong protests by the opposition. Paris has also sent the Chinese government a list of dissidents they were concerned about, the French foreign ministry said.

Sarkozy plans to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing later on Friday.

In Paris, several groups of protesters are planning demonstrations against China near the Chinese embassy on Friday. (dpa)