Chinese evacuation during Libya crisis retold in new book

A year has passed since the unrest took place in Libya, but the chaotic days and nights still remain in the memory of every Chinese who went through the country's bruising conflict in early 2011.

A new book, The Country, published by the Writers Publishing House, records the whole process when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China helped evacuate Chinese people from Libya during the war.

"For everyone I interviewed one year after the unrest, heading back home was the only wish they had during that time," author He Jianming says. "It's like going through the whole process again for me."

A total of 35,860 Chinese people living in Libya were evacuated and returned to China within 12 days.

"It was the first time for China to face the challenge of evacuating such a large number of people within such an extremely limited of time," the author says.

This is also the first time for China to publish a book themed on its diplomatic actions, according to the author, who is also the vice-president of China Writers Association.

He was invited to write the book earlier this year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he started writing in April.

It took him five months to interview about 60 people, most of them Chinese who were in Libya during the armed clashes. He also spoke to employees from the ministry who helped with the evacuation as well as Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who played key roles during the process.

"I also wanted to reveal the work and life of diplomats to the readers through the book," He says. "For many people, including myself, working as a diplomat is a highly dignified and also very mysterious job. But during the writing of the book, I learned that diplomats are just ordinary people like us, but they must shoulder the challenge and responsibility of a country during crisis."

The book is available in major bookstores in Beijing. The publishing house is now preparing for an English version of the book.

zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn