Word: fair
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...that sort of relative freedom for Chinese literature that Beijing wanted to emphasize in Frankfurt. The Committee to Protect Journalists says there were 28 journalists in Chinese jails last year, the most of any country. "At the opening of the fair, the Chinese officials spoke of literature flourishing but did not say a word about writers in jail, about censorship or prohibitions," Dai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). Dai, however, had plenty to say on the topic, in interviews and at fair-related events. By reacting so vitriolically to her presence - China's former ambassador to Germany Mei Zhaorong said...
...Juergen Boos, the fair organizer, said he was personally angered by mistakes and compromises in the organization and communication of the pre-fair symposium. In response to Mei's statement that China wouldn't be lectured on democracy, Boos wrote on the fair's website that "the Frankfurt Book Fair is not offering instruction in democracy, to be sure, but it is democracy in action." Soon after, project manager Peter Ripken was fired, apparently for blocking Dai and Bei from speaking at the closing ceremony, Deutsche Welle reported. Ripken responded that he had been acting on instructions from Germany...
...Qing is hardly the sort of writer whom China wanted to be given a platform at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest annual event of its kind. China was the fair's guest of honor this year, and the country's official representatives wanted to showcase a few young, popular novelists. Dai, 68, is a journalist and author of serious works on the environment in China and social affairs like women's rights. Thanks to her vocal criticism of the Three Gorges Dam, Dai can no longer find a publisher in mainland China. Her ideas on social issues in China...
...That became abundantly clear last month during a symposium ahead of the Oct. 14-18 fair, when the Chinese delegation walked out over the participation of Dai and the poet and critic Bei Ling. Under Chinese pressure, the event's organizers initially rescinded the writers' invitations. Dai, who is based in Beijing, said her official plane ticket had been canceled, but she was able to attend the fair as an unofficial guest after obtaining a visa through the sponsorship of the German branch of the PEN writers' association. (See pictures of modern China in the making...
...China's cultural ministries saw Frankfurt as a way to boost the country's clout overseas. The General Administration of Press and Publication sponsored the translation of more than 100 Chinese books into German and English to be sold at the fair, part of China's $7.5 million investment in the event. The writers who were approved for the official program in Frankfurt included Yu Hua, an author of earthy, sometimes profane novels of human struggle including To Live and Brothers. While Yu's sex- and drug-laden writing could have been banned as late as the 1980s...