On January 29th 2004, internationally-renowned French newspaper "Le Monde" published an article denouncing China’s Communist regime as "a cult" trying to silence those who don't have the same opinion. In Paris, a sharp contrast was seen between the Chinese President speech at the National Assembly in Paris, which was boycotted by half of the deputies in protest, and the peaceful appeal of Falun Gong in front of the same building. With a touch of humour, the Le Monde journalist hinted at how absurd it is to treat such peaceful people as if they were a threat to security in order to please a regime that does not hesitate to exert economic pressure to hide its crimes.