Asia-Pacific News

Furore as Chinese dissidents address book fair symposium

Sep 12, 2009, 12:28 GMT

Frankfurt - Two Chinese dissidents caused a furore when they addressed a symposium ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Saturday, causing much of the Chinese delegation to leave the room. Bei Ling and Dai Qing travelled to Frankfurt although their invitations to the China Symposium had been revoked after pressure from Beijing. The Chinese delegates only returned after the book fair's director Juergen Boos apologized to them for the joint statement, which he said had not been previously agreed with him. China's former ambassador to Germany, Mei Zhaorong, said they felt unfairly treated. 'We didn't come for a lesson on democracy, these times are over,' Mei said from the podium, adding that Dai Qing and Bei Ling were welcome to participate in the discussion but did not represent China's 1.3 billion citizens. The two dissident authors in turn expressed disappointment at the Chinese delegation for leaving the room, saying such behaviour did not enable discussion. Beijing had objected to the pair being invited to the forum, being held in the run-up to the October 14-18 Frankfurt Book Fair, where China is guest of honour. The revocation of the dissidents' invitations triggered fierce criticism in Germany, where the organizers were accused of bowing to China's censorship. Dai Qing was subsequently invited by the international writers' organization PEN, while Bei Ling travelled to Frankfurt at his own expense.

Asia-Pacific News

Furore as Chinese dissidents address book fair symposium

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