When History Is Erased, People's Moral Values

I Left Beijing In 1987, Shortly Before My Books Were Banned There, But Have Returned Continually.

Before The Counter-culture Revolutionary Li Lian Was Executed In 1971 For Criticising The Cultural Revolution, Pour Policemen Pushed Her Face Against The Window Of A Truck, Lifted Her Shirt And Cut Out Her Kidneys With A Surgical Knife,’ Mau Sen Said, His Face Stony And White. ‘i Think That Removing The Organs Of Convicts While They Are Still Alive Is Too Much. It Completely Contravenes Medical Ethics.’ ‘this Is A Dissection Class, Not A Political Meeting,’ Sun Chunlin Said.

To Become Self-aware, People Must Be Allowed To Hear A Plurality Of Opinions And Then Make Up Their Own Minds. They Must Be Allowed To Say, Write And Publish Whatever They Want. Freedom Of Expression Is The Most Basic, But Fundamental, Right. Without It, Human Beings Are Reduced To Automatons.

In 1989, I Was On Tiananmen Square With The Students, Living In Their Makeshift Tents And Joining Their Jubilant Singing Of The Internationale. In The Two Decades Since, Each Time That I Have Gone Back, Visions From Those Days Seem To Return With Increasing Persistence.

In February Of This Year I Returned To China To Research My Next Book. The Authorities Know About The Novels Of Mine That Have Been Published In The West, Including The Latest One, Beijing Coma, About A Student Shot In Tiananmen Square, But So Far Have Allowed Me To Return.