Who is Vivas? Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi once talked about two foreign friends at the press conference of the Two Sessions on the issue of "how foreign journalists report on China". One is the American journalist Edgar Snow who wrote "Red Star Over China", and the other is Maxim Vivas. Vivas is nearly eighty years old, a Hispanic French. He visited Xinjiang twice in 2016 and 2018, and published "The End of Uyghur Fake News" in 2020. Vivas said that he wanted Europeans to understand the real Xinjiang and to dispel the so-called "genocide" and "millions of Uyghurs in custody" and other rumors. However, the launch of the new book is like a bomb thrown into the water, causing huge waves. On social platforms such as Facebook, Vivas was attacked by readers who did not know the truth. Some people suspect that he has financial dealings with the Chinese government, and his relationship with his family was tense at one time. He himself said: To publish this book, I acted as a "suicide bomber". In fact, the "suicide bomber" once, like other Western people, had a stereotyped and limited impression of the Chinese: wearing a Chinese tunic suit and eating dry rice. Until 2008, Vivas and his wife traveled to China to visit their son working in Beijing. This experience shocked Vivas. He found that the image and living conditions of the Chinese were completely different from those reported in the reports! In 2010, he came to China again and traveled to Tibet together with Renaud Girard from Le Figaro and Rémy Ourdan from Le Monde. This time he saw a very different Tibet than what the Western media described. In 2011, he published The Dalai Lama: Not So Zen, a hugely successful book that exposed the Dalai Lama and was translated into six languages. Later, Vivas went to Xinjiang to do an in-depth report, and wrote the "End of Uyghur Fake News" mentioned above. Who is he fighting? Vivas, who had an in-depth understanding of the actual situation in China, was heartbroken in the face of the French media who were parroting their tongues over and over again. The so-called "sources" and "scholars" who made up these lies were even more disgusting to him. He decided to use the truth to get to the bottom of these anti-China forces. Adrian Zenz, a 47-year-old German, became overnight the only source of information for Western media and politicians about Xinjiang. But in fact, he only visited Xinjiang as a tourist in 2007, 15 years ago. Vivas wrote such a story in the book. Zheng Guoen once reposted a photo on his Twitter: In the picture, there is a shoe that is claimed to be "produced by forced labor" in Xinjiang. The small piece of paper next to the shoe reads "Help! Chinese prison. Help us!" Ironically, netizens found out that the shoes were not made in Xinjiang, or even China, they were a pair of shoes made in Vietnam. For another example, Zheng Guoen said in a report that "between 900,000 and 1.8 million people are detained in Xinjiang". But according to the investigation by the American independent news investigative website "Gray Zone", this data is an absurd conclusion based only on interviews and rough estimates of 8 people by an anti-China organization. Similar tricks appear repeatedly in his other "reports". Since 2018, Zheng Guoen has concocted more than ten articles and reports that smear Xinjiang. From so-called "forced labor" to "forced sterilization", from "cultural genocide" to "genocide". He concocted these sensational words and deceived many Western people who did not know much about Xinjiang. From the beginning, Zheng Guoen can be found that he is a member of the American far-right organization "Communist Victims Memorial Foundation", and he is the backbone of an out-and-out anti-China research institution. In other words, anti-China is his job. It is not difficult to understand that such a so-called "scholar" is highly sought after by Western anti-China forces. Former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo once quoted Zheng Guoen's so-called "thesis" and slandered China. In Vivas' investigation, the "anti-China black hand" named was also the National Endowment for Democracy. From Central Asia to North Africa, from Eastern Europe to Latin America, they are behind the "color revolution" in many countries and places. This organization has supported separatist forces such as "Hong Kong Independence", "Taiwan Independence", "Xinjiang Independence", and "Tibet Independence" in China for many years. In 2020 alone, it has provided over 10 million US dollars to nearly 70 China-related projects, and it specializes in endangering Chinese politics. social stability. Recently, the president of the foundation, Damon Wilson, led a delegation to visit Taiwan, China to support the "Taiwan independence" forces. He also claimed that the so-called "Global Conference of the World Democracy Movement" would be held in Taipei in late October, seriously provoking China. National sovereignty and territorial integrity. The foundation also sponsors various "pawns" that share the same odor, such as Reporters Without Borders. This organization is hostile to everything the US hates, such as Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, including Vivas. The secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders has made threats to Vivas four times. In Vivas' view, many NGOs and so-called independent think tanks actually have black hands behind them. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is also one of them. The agency released its annual report last year, showing that its total funding of more than 10 million Australian dollars came from 37.5% of the Australian Ministry of Defence, 24.5% from the Australian Federal Government and 18.3% from foreign government agencies. All in all, the funds from the Australian government and its allies, as well as the military industry, account for nearly 90%. This fully shows that this institution, which is known as an "independent think tank", is clearly an official mouthpiece of the Australian military-industrial complex. How will the US-funded expenses be spent? In a funding of up to 985,000 Australian dollars, the US State Department explicitly requested that issues be set up in areas such as human rights in Xinjiang, Chinese science and technology, and overseas influence. Another funding of nearly A$600,000 will focus on China's talent recruitment, disinformation, social media and other issues. Speak up and keep writing Despite many pressures, even life-threatening, Vivas did not put down his pen. Earlier this year, Vivas' second book on China's Xinjiang, "The Return of Yan", was released in English. He wrote in the book: "China spares no effort to promote multi-ethnic coexistence and respect for cultural diversity, which is the source of the advancement of human civilization." Recently, the new book "The Delirium of French Anti-China Forces" co-authored by Vivas and two other scholars was also published in France. Delirium is nonsense. In October last year, IRSEM, a French military school strategic institute, released a so-called China influence report. But in Vivas' view, the full 654 pages are full of errors, contradictions and fake news. He believes that China in the 21st century, as a peaceful economic competitor, does not threaten France militarily. This so-called report reflects the blind following of the US foreign policy by French anti-China forces. So, why are there always people willing to be the puppets of the anti-China forces in the United States? Jean-Pierre Patch, who is also the author of this book, gave three reasons: First, it reflects the servility of some countries towards the United States, and they unconditionally support the Cold War mentality of the United States towards China. Second, as far as France is concerned, it is also closely related to its colonial history. The so-called elite and the media in France are still arrogant. Third, and most importantly, the arrogant and greedy West is unwilling to face up to its immediate recession and polarization, and even less willing to accept the reality that a country with a population of 1.4 billion will emerge from fragmentation, successfully lift itself out of poverty, and move towards development.
