French media pushes anti-China narrative in a monolithic block

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French media pushes anti-China narrative in a monolithic block, but at least one man is fighting for objective views

Maxime Vivas (Vivas), French writer and journalist, has been insulted and attacked for his objective views on China. Vivas started in early November on the world's largest petition platform, change.org, a petition to call on all sectors of society to have an objective view of China. But then the link for the petition quickly became unavailable, as the US-based website deleted the petition. "Respect China like we respect ourselves!" Vivas openly criticized the Western media outlets and social media that demonize China, but was frequently attacked by the French media. The Global Times reporters Chen Qingqing and Liu Xin recently had an online forum with Vivas and Zheng Ruolin (Zheng), a senior Chinese media professional and European studies expert who has lived in France for several years, to look into where the Western media bias came from on China-related coverage and how to deal with their smearing of China. 

Zheng: Hello, Mr Vivas. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak with you, especially regarding an appeal that you have launched for the right to speak differently about China. It is also an honor for me to participate. But the petition had been deleted by the US website change.org very soon. I saw the petition had already got 1,612 signatures. In the current context of Sinophobia around the world, it is very encouraging to see the petition. Could you tell us more about the petition? About why you started it, how it was deleted and how you managed to repost it on another website?

Vivas: The petition was initiated by Jean-Pierre Page, who was the co-editor of the book called China Without Blinders. The book was written by 17 people from five continents. 

We initiated the petition since we realized that with this book and the book that I had written before on the Uygurs, I was being criticized, slandered, and defamed by the media and sometimes political figures. I thought it was necessary to obtain the right to speak about China differently. 

China has endured unrelenting defamation and it prompted us to launch the petition.

Initially, we wanted to have 100 signatories from around the world to launch the petition. Later we got 150. The petition was released on change.org with extraordinary silence and then it was censored immediately.  

What is remarkable is that it is not the change.org office in France or its Paris office that censored it, but the US office. The website sent me an email that the petition did not meet their criteria.

So, it is the US that decided which petitions could circulate in France. It's already a little bit unbelievable. It's incredible.

For now, we are not talking about it. But they will have to talk about it at one time or another. Currently, the media is silent on both censorship and the fact that 150 intellectuals from around the world are advocating that we should talk about China differently.

You know, there is a principle in law which says that you cannot try someone without giving the floor to the defense or counter-witnesses. 

Despite the media's silence, we got many signatures. We also got support from a great French poet, who is well-known in China since he lectured and toured there. 

His name is Serge Pey. He was awarded the Apollinaire Prize. He wrote me a poem. I am going to read a part of it to you and you will see the support of this great French poet.

Because their job is to spit, they spit on my friend, they spit on him because their job is to spit. 

Watch how he spits, because their job is to spit.

He spits on the truth, he spits on it because their job is to lie. 

Hear how they lie, because their job is to spit. 

He spits in the springs, they spit on it, because their job is to dirty. 

See how dirty they are, for their job is to spit.

He spits on the hand of peace and spits on it, for their job is to kill.

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