On the Eve of the Olympics, Let’s Talk Imprisonment

Well, now that the games are about to begin tomorrow, it might be an excellent time to plead for all the writers that China has imprisoned. I heard on NPR yesterday that one of the Olympic Committee members didn't award China the Games because he thought they deserved it, but because he thought the Games would reform China. Let's hope that raising awareness of China's long-term mistreatment of writers will compel them to move ever more slightly toward allowing looser restrictions of print. Or at least letting a few writers out of prison.

PEN USA has given China an F on a report card regarding freedom of expression.

Excerpt From PEN USA:

1. Wang Dejia: Internet writer and dissident, detained December 13, 2007 and released on January 12, 2008 on condition that he not write anything “attacking the leadership of the Party and State,” “inciting subversion of state power,” or any “political commentary.”
2. Hu Jia: Freelance reporter and blogger, civil rights, environmental and AIDS activist, arrested December 27, 2007 and convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” on April 3, 2008. Hu is now serving a 3 ½-year sentence.
3. Jamyang Kyi: Prominent Tibetan writer, reporter, activist and singer detained April 1, 2008.
4. Zhou Yuanzhi: Freelance writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, detained on May 3, 2008 and released on May 15, 2008. Zhou is forbidden from traveling beyond his home city without police authorization, prohibited from communicating with strangers, and banned from publishing.
5. Chen Daojun: Freelance writer and journalist, detained May 9, 2008 and charged with “inciting splittism.”
6. Guo Quan: Writer and former professor of literature at Nanjing Normal University, detained May 17, 2008 and released May 28, 2008.
7. Feng Zhenghu: Rights defender, online writer and freelance journalist, detained on June 5, 2008 on suspicion of “intentionally disturbing public order and released on June 15, 2008.
8. Zheng Hongling: Writer and retired worker, detained June 9, 2008 after publishing articles on her experiences from the May 12, 2008 earthquake.
9. Huang Qi: Cyber-dissident, writer, director and co-founder of the Tianwang Human Rights Center, detained on June 10, 2008.

For more information, such as the names of the forty-five writers currently imprisoned, check out the PEN USA website or go listen to this audio recording of authors (including Salman Rushdie) plead for the release of writers.