Photo: screenshot

Cultural exchanges between China and France shouldn't suffer any stigma, Chinese embassy stressed on Monday as it criticized two recent articles by French media Libération. The articles were publicly inciting anti-Chinese sentiments which could endanger Chinese students and researchers in France.

The two articles published by Libération, in a racist tone, publicly incited anti-Chinese sentiments and gratuitously stigmatized cultural exchanges between China and France, which is totally unacceptable, Chinese Embassy in France said in a statement on Monday. 

The embassy also slammed Libération for deliberately choosing an abominable design on its front page on July 27 and extremely demagogic headlines such as "China's entryism in French universities." Such media reporting is a reproduction of the "yellow peril" theory that seeks to stir up hatred against China, the embassy said.

The embassy said it is astounding to discover that in the 21st century, some still use "Nazi-style" propaganda to extol extreme racism, which only exposes their dark mentality, hostility toward China, and their entrenched ideological prejudices.

The embassy said Libération also fabricated a story about a Uygur student, alleging that the student was being harassed by the police. The embassy said the student should publish the evidence if the story is real, otherwise this was just fabrication used to slander China. In addition, the scholars quoted in the article are established "anti-China" figures, and most others are said to be "anonymous sources," rendering their opinions useless. 

The embassy said that it is pathetic to see some Westerners embracing fiction as fact due to prolonged anti-China propaganda. 

The embassy also stressed the importance of cultural exchanges between the two countries, saying it is a bridge to promote mutual understanding and trust and to consolidate friendship between the countries, and the media is crucial to that progress. 

Global Times