Book fair excludes Chinese dissidents (3rd Roundup)

Sep 10, 2009, 17:01 GMT

   Frankfurt - Organizers of the world's largest book fair confirmed Thursday they had banned two Chinese authors from a symposium in Germany this weekend, but the dissidents said they would go to Frankfurt anyway.

   Beijing earlier objected to the author Bei Ling and the journalist Dai Qing being invited to China and the World, a conference on Saturday and Sunday in the run-up to the October 14-18 Frankfurt Book Fair.

   'It's a symposium jointly hosted by us and the Chinese partner, so we had to make some compromises,' said book fair director Juergen Boos in Frankfurt. He denied the organizers had succumbed to censorship.

A confrontation was looming after supporters persuaded both authors to travel to Frankfurt regardless. It was not clear if the dissidents would enter the event, or if official Chinese authors would walk out in protest.

Bei Ling, who lives in the US city of Boston, said by phone that he had told the symposium organizer, Peter Ripken, he would be attending despite earlier being told to stay away.

'I've decided to go,' he said. 'That is the right decision.'

   Dai, the other author, said German organizers had first booked her air ticket and hotel, then told her not to attend.

   But on Thursday, Dai said she had secured a German visa to attend the symposium as a guest of the German PEN Club of independent writers.

   'If the organizers believe I'm not suitable for an invitation as a speaker, I will actively take part in the discussions and raise questions,' she said.

   Dai said the Chinese government's attempt to prevent her participation in the event was 'arbitrary' and urged officials to 'abide by the law.'

   China is to be guest of honour at the book show next month. PEN Germany said it had been premature to award China that role because its human rights were not sufficiently advanced.

   Herbert Wiesner, secretary of PEN, told the RBB Kultur radio station in Berlin, 'China is mature in many ways, but not in this.' He said Beijing seemed not to care about the impression it created in other nations.

   Organizer Boos said freedom of expression would have 'pride of place' at the annual Book Fair next month and the Chinese authors could speak there instead. 'Content at the Frankfurt Book Fair cannot be supervised,' he said.

   Bei described to the German Press Agency dpa how China threatened to boycott the symposium should he participate.

   Organizer Peter Ripken informed him about the 'very difficult situation' on Wednesday.

   'He said, please don't come,' Bei said.

   He added that organizers told him they feared a confrontation that could damage the symposium and the book fair as both officials from Beijing and prominent Chinese author Mo Yan refused to be in the same room with him.

   Bei was arrested in China in 2000 for 'illegal publications' but was released shortly afterward following US intervention.

   Book Fair organizer Boos denied that Bei and Dai had been offered speaking slots at the symposium, saying they were only to have been in the audience. Ripken said he could not comment on PEN's invitation to Dai.

   Among critics of the fair in Germany was an opposition member of parliament's culture committee. 'This opportunism is a damning indictment,' said Hans-Joachim Otto of the Free Democrat Party.