French writer and senior media reporter Maxime Vivas rips off the "sacred" mask the Dalai Lama presents to the West in his 2011 book, "'Not so‘Zen’: The Hidden Side of The Dalai Lama".

Vivas said in a recent interview with the Global Times, "I’ve always held a keen interest in Tibet and I hope that this place, steeped in history and culture, will continue to develop under the support of the Central Government."

Through invitation from the Chinese government, Vivas visited Tibet in 2010 as part of a French press delegation. During the trip, he was truly shocked by some aspects of Tibet, which differed greatly from his preconceptions.

Vivas said that in France and other Western countries, people have a lot of preconceived ideas about Tibet. Some "pro-Tibet independence" media and groups portray Tibet as "hell on earth", where the traditional culture and religion is dying out. When Vivas returned from Tibet, he documented his experiences online, causing widespread attention. At the beginning of this series of reports, he wrote, "reporting on the 'willful repression of Tibetans' doesn’t imply it's the truth."

The thing that left him a lasting impression was that the real situation in Tibet was so different from that portrayed by Western media propaganda.

"I was very surprised by the rich language, culture and religion present in Tibet. Western media states that 'Chinese authorities are strangling Tibetan culture and language', but we saw students learning Tibetan language from primary school all the way up to university – Tibetan traditional culture and Tibetan Buddhism was everywhere," Vivas said.

Vivas noticed that the Chinese government had invested a huge amount in the continued development of Tibet. Moreover, they have used laws and policies to protect the culture and religion in Tibet, which was "beyond his expectations". He noticed that China is doing much better than France in this area, especially in terms of language and culture. "I saw that Tibetan language is widely used: advertising, road signs, store plaques, newspapers, television and radio programs and in schools. A college student proudly showed me a computer program, which he created using Tibetan script."

Vivas also said that after he witnessed the ever-present religious aura in Tibet, he read the Dalai Lama’s materials carefully and did a series of comparisons by researching the Dalai’s views through his speeches and in Western media. He noted that there were many fabrications and self-contradictions, so he published 'Not so ‘Zen'. The book surprisingly led to widespread attention from the media, and as a result, public opinion of the Dalai Lama in France changed significantly. They realized that the Dalai Lama’s activities were not all about religion, but trying to influence French policy toward China, thus leading to tensions between the two countries.

"I want the French and Western media to see that the Dalai Lama is a political figure with political interests he represents," said Vivas.