Spanish writer tells West to understand, not to demonize China

MADRID, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Western world should try to understand China better rather than demonize it, Spanish writer Julio Ceballos said on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with Xinhua following the presentation here of his new book on China "Watching the rice grow."

The book, whose original Spanish title is "Observando el arroz crecer," contains 88 short stories or articles that aim to inform readers about Chinese culture, and help them understand the country and the way its people think.

Ceballos is an expert in internationalization, market strategy and negotiation, who lived and worked in China for 17 years. He said that "the truth is that today China knows the West much better than we know China."

The writer believes "there is a need for more Western people with knowledge of Chinese reality. There are more bridges to cross from one shore to the other. We need more specialists who know this country (China) on the ground, and more ties between Western and Chinese citizens to help to eliminate barriers and knock down unfounded stereotypes."

He insisted that "everyone should know China; but most people in the Western world do not know it." In his opinion, there is a "very simple" reason why people need this understanding: "China is already the largest exporter in the world."

The West, he said, is "still trapped in echo chambers that only reinforce the preconceived ideas (and not always correct) that we have of almost everything Chinese." In order to change these conceptions, he advised people to "get on a plane, visit China, see, smell, hear, taste and feel what is happening."

"It is a good first step, at street level and first-hand, to form an opinion of flesh and blood and not to simply demonize China," he insisted.