On December 25, 2020 Chinese state-owned publisher China International Publishing Group had pressured a small German publishing house to alter the German translation of a Chinese book or have a book tour by the author canceled. After the books had already been printed, the Chinese publisher requested that the German publisher make edits to portray the Cultural Revolution more favorably. They also asked that the book, which the Chinese foreword presents as based on the memories of someone the author met, be presented as fiction in the German translation. The German publisher refused the changes, resulting in the partial cancellation of the book tour. In a related story, Thalia, a large German bookstore chain, had its Chinese literature section emptied of content critical of the CCP. According to DW, Thalia’s shelves instead had “speeches by Xi Jinping front and center.” It turned out the displays were curated by a German subsidiary of China International Publishing Group.