French writer launches online petition for objective view of China

"We have the right to speak differently about China!" Maxime Vivas, French writer and journalist, started on Tuesday a petition on the world's largest petition platform, change.org, to share his stories of being insulted and attacked for his objective views on China and called on all sectors of society to have an objective view of China.

"Respect China like we respect ourselves!" said the petition letter released on Tuesday. In the letter Vivas told how he was insulted and smeared as an "agent" of China after he published books that have told the true stories of China.

Vivas, who went to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region twice, published a book, Uygurs, to put an end to the fake news, in December 2020. In his book, Vivas described his observations of Xinjiang's counter-terrorism efforts and the region's development, and analyzed the relations the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy has with the secessionist World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and some NGOs like Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The petition noted that an avalanche of insults have fallen on Vivas for his views on Xinjiang. Some French media called him a "useful idiot," or "conspirator" bought by China. These "biased attacks" are made under flimsy criticism of his books.

Vivas told the Global Times that so far, more than 150 people from different fields globally signed the petition.  

These signatories, including journalists, a former ambassador, and a TV host, let us cease the war drums of imperialism intended to silence us in a "high intensity conflict." "Respect China like we respect ourselves!" the letter said.

This is a petition launched by ordinary people such as scholars and journalists, and I hope it can become a significant event supported by the international community, Zheng Ruolin, a senior Chinese media professional and European studies expert who lived in France for several years, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

As one of the participants in the online petition, Zheng said as a friend of Vivas, he has been supporting his position on China-related matters,for example, on Xinjiang. "He has been telling the truth about China not for fame or profit. There's no selfishness in it, all for the truth," Zheng said.

There is a bias in China-related stories published in French media. Zheng said many media outlets in France are also controlled by capital, and their stances have been influenced by the capitalists behind them. Sometimes, they are manipulated by capital from the U.S..