Book Release:“Chine: Comment l’Occident se fabrique des ennemis”
September 27 , 2022
【Chinese】
【French】
On 27 September, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) held a book release of Chine: Comment l’Occident se fabrique des ennemis, which was held in conjunction with a conference that included the book’s author, senior experts in international relations, and the media. China’s international image has often been misrepresented in Western discourse and this discussion focused on how to present an authentic Chines image and build a more stable bridge for communications between China and Europe.
This book provides a unique perspective, which receives less attention from Western media. By referencing historical data and case studies, it offers a comprehensive insight into China’s economic development, political system, foreign policy and Western narratives on Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The author of the book, Serge Berthier, points out that long-term misconceptions and prejudice toward China comes from a Western-centered discourse in Europe and America. The aim of the book is to reverse this prejudice and present a relatively real image of China. He emphasises that communication and mutual understanding is the only way dispel misconceptions. He references numerous precedents to show how the tense relationship between France and North Africa was mitigated by building a bridge of cultural exchange, which could serve as a reference point for finding a way out of the current misread relationship between China and France.
Senior reporter and the translator of the book, Xiaoqin Cui, mentioned that this book analyses the contact and communication between China and the Western world, and offers deep insights into the current situation. She also encourages young people in the west to read excellent Chinese novels, stressing that it is helpful to understand China from different perspectives and eliminate misunderstandings.
CCG non-resident senior fellow, Former Deputy Director and Senior Fellow of the Institute of World Development, Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC), Yifan Ding, sees this book as a bold innovation. On one hand, the stereotype of China in the Western world that began with the Jesuits coming to China demonstrates a dichotomy in thinking between the West and the golden mean of Confucianism in China, and different ways of thinking that affect the process of mutual understanding. Today, in order to compete and survive in the industry, French media are often unable to provide objective and authentic reports on China, which lacks independence. In this context, the publication of this book is of great value and innovative significance.
CRI journalist Mekedem Lotfi said that as a journalist, he is committed to delivering an objective and authentic image of China, and to breaking down prejudices and stereotypes through interpersonal dialogues. He also emphasised that the key to globalization is an openness the other. News media should discard stereotypes in the process of international communication, and manage competition in a more professional way to obtain more accurate information.
Professor of Legal Anthropology at the Institut Universitaire de France and writer, Norbert Rouland pointed out three methods for breaking up Western misconceptions. The first is concrete and offline interpersonal communications between China and the West. Second is the key role of education. French education should be more open, and education should encourage people to actively understand Chinese culture, in particular outstanding Chinese novels, which are conductive to understanding China from different perspectives.
President of the Association Friends of Wu Jianmin, Bo Xu, mentioned that the lack of cultural exchanges between China and the West is one of the biggest reasons for this long-term misunderstanding. Ambassador Wu Jianmin was committed to promoting communication between different discourse systems during his tenure. Xu said that interpersonal communication is an important prerequisite for mutual understanding and communication, and that communication must be frequent. Moreover, how the Chinese story can be told more effectively should be rethought. This book achieves this in a relatively academic way, pointing out that it is impossible to build a perfect national image of China. We simply need to dedicate ourselves to showcasing China in an authentic way, unafraid of its imperfections.
Serge Berthier previously served as a civil administrator in the Algerian government’s Ministry of Transport previously. He settled in Hong Kong in 1986 where he later founded his own consulting firm. In 1997, he founded the quarterly journal Asian Affairs, focusing on providing sharp insights into geopolitics. He has visited mainland of China many times and retired in Hong Kong as a permanent resident. His works include La Chine en marche and Vivre a Hong-Kong. His latest work, Chine: Comment l’Occident se fabrique des ennemis, which aims to clarify the narrative and present the real China, was recently published by Editions du Panthéon. A response to a pervasive fear and prejudice against China in the West, the book references historical materials and individual case studies to provide a comprehensive overview of China’s political system as well as its economic and social development, while also providing insights into the Chinese way of thinking, as well as the the author’s own insights into Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This book is currently being translated into Chinese by CCG.
About CCG Publishing Center
The CCG Publishing Center works in close cooperation with internationally renowned publishing houses such as Springer Nature, Edward Edgar, Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press, and leading Chinese publishing houses including the People’s Publishing House, SDX Joint Publishing Company, CITIC Press Corporation and the Social Sciences Academic Press, publishing over ten Chinese and English monographs, books and research reports every year.
The CCG Publishing Center has so far published three English-language book series –
“China and Globalization”, “The Chinese Enterprise Globalization”, and “International Talent Development in China”. New books are published every year under each of these series and read by a wide range of global readers in overseas research institutions, universities, think tanks, international organizations, business circles and other areas, providing them with an in-depth understanding of China.
Our Chinese-language publications focus on themes of globalization, global governance, think tank research, talent internationalization, and enterprise internationalization. The CCG Publishing Center has published dozens of influential books, including I Talk about China to the World (CITIC Press, 2021), Global Think Tanks (People’s Publishing House, 2014), The Fourth Power Behind Great Powers (CITIC Press, 2017), An Introduction to International Talent Studies (China Personnel Publishing House, 2020) and our annual Blue Book Report (Social Sciences Academic Press). CCG plans to publish two new books, Foresight and China and Globalization in the 21st Century, in the near future.
The CCG Publishing Center is committed to becoming a one of the world’s foremost think tank-based publishing centers, providing those following China’s development with a balanced perspective based on the research, thoughts and wisdom of the world’s leading China experts.
