Censorship Watch
By Anita Fore
Banned in China, Published in Hong Kong. Twenty years of research and writing came to fruition for one Chinese academic this fall thanks to the greater freedoms enjoyed by a Hong Kong publisher, New Century Press, and its activist editor, Bao Pu. Hong Kong remains unencumbered by some of the restrictions on free speech prevalent in mainland China, a situation often referred to as “one country, two systems.” The difference is so pronounced that at least one bookstore, the People’s Recreation Community bookstore, specializes in the sale of Hong Kong-published books banned by the mainland government. Chinese Civilisation Revisited, a critical exploration of 5,000 years of Chinese history and culture by journalist Xiao Jiansheng, had originally been scheduled for publication in 2008 by a mainland Chinese publisher associated with the government’s social sciences academy. The manuscript was edited, and the book was being advertised for sale when it was cancelled. Although the book does not contain detailed commentary on the political situation in China after the 1949 Communist takeover, it appears that the government pulled the plug on publication. Nor does the greater freedom of the Hong Kong press mean that publication is without consequence for either its author or publisher. Government officials reportedly came to Xiao Jiansheng’s workplace to exert pressure on him after learning that the publication was timed to coincide with the October 1 National Day holiday celebrations. The Hong Kong-based Bao Pu, son of an aide to Zhao Ziyang, a Communist secretary who fell out with party leaders—in particular over his sympathizing with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protesters—and who lived under house arrest until his death, is already under constant police surveillance and at the mercy of Beijing officials when it comes to obtaining visas to visit his family on the mainland.
Europe Tells Turkey to Straighten Up and Fly Right. Turkey isn’t doing itself any favors in its efforts to join the European Union by levying billion-dollar fines against media companies, or by bringing and allowing lawsuits against journalists and writers such as Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Laureate who is now being sued for making a remark about the number of Kurds and Armenians killed in Turkey. In its annual progress report issued on October 14, EU officials identified various actions taken by the Turkish government, including attempts to suppress free expression, as creating a barrier to EU entry. The report paid particular attention to the government’s imposition of a tax penalty equivalent to $3.9 billion dollars on Turkey’s biggest media outlet, Dogan Yayin, which is critical of the ruling party. Apparently, the amount of the fine is as much as the company’s annual income, a fact that led the EU to characterize the penalty as something that “feels like a political sanction.” The report did praise the Turkish government’s recent efforts to ease hostilities with Armenia and improve relations with the Kurds. However, the continued objections of France and Germany, along with the criticism of Turkey’s actions as threats against free speech, make it appear as though EU membership is unlikely to be granted in the near future.
