So today is the 56th birthday of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. It’s a bittersweet birthday, I’m sure, for a number of reasons.
First, he’s currently serving an 11 year prison sentence that’s not due to end until 2020. And just last week two more Chinese writer/activists were sent to prison for the same reason as Liu–speaking out against their government.
Chen Wei was given a 9 year sentence and Chen Xi (no relation) was given 10 years.
It doesn’t seem so long ago when I first visited China and had my bags searched at the airport, supposedly for lewd magazines and books that criticized China (there were many fewer of those back in 1988).
In any case, it saddens me to think about how much China has ‘progressed’ since 1988, yet really some things haven’t changed at all.
There’s only so much Prada that will keep people happy before the real issues start to boil. How many writers will be thrown in jail before change takes place in China?
Good question, Susan. Wow, interesting to read through these comments! 😉
Yes, I should have known better! 🙂
A famous young Chinese writer Han Han, sparked heated discussions among netizens in China after he posted three articles recently on his blog, talking about revolution, democracy and freedom. It’s uncommon that China’s state-owned newspapers China Daily and Global Times also joined the discussions. Please google “Han Han On Revolution, Democracy and Freedom” or find the translated version at http://www.zonaeuropa.com.
After posting my comment, I expected strong reaction from some. Supporting freedom of expression, I would suggest to free Liu Xiaobo. But this view is based on Western tradition and not on the laws of China. Liu Xiaobo is Chinese citizen, living in China, and we have to examine the laws of this country and if he breached these laws. My comment was not about Liu Xiaobo per se, but about out tendency to judge foreign countries according to our western views and experiences. But we not always foreign countries to say that what the western world is doing is wrong. These foreign countires, for example, view the police actions against protestors in American and Canadian cities as attack on freedom of expression as well. Now, about my “English”. It is not my native language and an editor went over my book. But I didn’t take the time to edit my post. So is the poster who attacked my “English” had an open mind toward foreigners, or expect everone to be like him or her? Happy New Year and Peace to all.
It’s worth noting that Liu wasn’t just an advocate for democracy in China. He was pro-American, pro-Bush, and was a supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. All this may not be a big deal in America, but in China, being a supporter of a superpower that is openly hostile to the nation just ain’t gonna fly with the authorities.
Good point!
It is strange that the sword is afraid of the pen. Is it true that the pen is mightier than the sword after all, as the saying goes? Very sad.
I merely ask, because you seem to be hammering at the keyboard to produce random letters which seemingly form badly spelled words.
Did you then hurl the punctuation at the page, and left what stuck?
It is comforting that your novel is published in China, where such practices are simply regarded as being part of “English”, but, My Dear, here in the West we tend to set a higher standard for our writers.
Perhaps, for the crimes you have perpetrated, you should be incarcerated… I’ve got an open mind about such things, but some of the pedantic people who post here more regularly haven’t got the same tolerance for the maulling you’re giving the English Language.
As for the list of sources you cite in your blog, none of them are independant, and all are controlled by the Chinese Government, who have propaganda production down to a fine tuned and tightly controlled art. You would be better off actually talking to people who are’t simply mouthpieces for the Party – you might get an idea of the level of repression, manipulation and control that is part of everyday life in The Middle Kingdom.
And yes, Giora, I have “been in China”, and it’s bloody sight lot different from the sugar coated confection you believe it to be. The last demonstration that “occupied” an area of Beijing was met with more than pepper spray – and still is not mentioned in any locally produced history books.
So have a Happy Year Of The Dragon, go and celebrate it at the Mall in one of the terrible faux-Chinese restaurants that are a perfect imitation of your idea of China.
Now, now. Giora had some good points. I’m the first to admit that the US isn’t utopia. The point I was trying to make was that with all the changes I’ve seen in China, some important ones haven’t been made yet. When I was married to my Hubei husband, my inlaws thought the Tiananamen leader Wang Dan was a woman. I guess people can’t complain there when they don’t know what’s going on.
Unlike you, Susan, I never been in China. I follow China for many years now, and keep up with China by reading information from Western and Chinese sources and also by communicating with people from China. Obviously, the Western and Chinese sources paint different pictures about China and about topics, like why Liu Xiaobo is in jail. It’s important to keep an open mind and to listen to what both sides are saying. While the western media something like to attack China, the sources I read from China (see the list in my last blog) view it as anti-China propaganda. I respectfully submit that we, who live in North America, are under teh impression that we live in a true democracy who is very progressive. But, then we get many demonstration like Occupy Wall Street chalenging our notion if the majority lives in a truely free democracy, or is being controlled by a ruling group. Just another point of view and Happy New Year.