French authors work to shatter Western misconceptions about China in new book

French writer Maxime Vivas, who previously published a book about China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has striven to debunk the one-sided interpretations of China propagated by the Western media with an objective and detailed set of arguments, having once again broken through the Western misconceptions about China with his latest book.

After publishing his book entitled "Ouïghours pour en finir avec les fake news", Vivas co-edited another book named "La Chine sans œillères" with French trade union activist and writer Jean-Pierre Page.

(People's Daily Online/He Qian)

In this latest book, they invited 16 international experts and scholars from the fields of economics, history, diplomacy, immunology, journalism, and Tibetan studies to break through the Western misconceptions about China.

During a recent exclusive interview with the People's Daily Online, Vivas recalled that his book "Ouïghours pour en finir avec les fake news" was published amid an unprecedented upheaval in international public opinion towards China, with the Western media claiming that there was a widespread genocide against the Uygur people in Xinjiang, that the organs of Uygur children were being harvested and sold, that millions of Uygurs were being imprisoned, and that large numbers of Muslims were being persecuted.

"However, Western politicians and journalists have never been to Xinjiang, nor have they conducted objective field research. When my book was published, it was like a bomb thrown into the water, stirring up big waves," said Vivas.

According to Vivas, "due to the publication of this book, my relationship with people around me became really strained, including with my family, and I felt it was very painful because of this. But what hurt me the most was the attack from the French media, from newspapers to radio to television, which was full of slanders, insults, and curses against me. What's more, some even accused me of being a Nazi."

Page noted the hostility from the French media and general public, suggesting that "in France, the media has difficulty tolerating an open-minded interpretation of China. Any author who shows the slightest sign of goodwill toward China is subjected to a barrage of attacks simply because he tells the truth."

"The most important reason for the constant hostility shown by the French media and politicians toward China is that the arrogant and greedy West is unwilling to face the reality -- a country of 1.4 billion people has managed to emerge from fragmentation, underdevelopment, and poverty and move toward development. Meanwhile, the U.S. and France are experiencing recession, violence, and social polarization," Page concluded.

"When all of the influential media outlets repeatedly reported for multiple years that genocide was taking place in Xinjiang and that China was responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Chinese sentiment was bound to run high in the West," explained Vivas.

Now, as time passes by, fake news about Xinjiang that used to be rampant in the West has continuously been debunked, and mainstream media have been forced to remain cautious and have even tried to make changes. "The truth is like a stubborn little plant growing through the concrete cracks in the walls and roads," said Vivas.