SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 5:04 AM September 18, 2015 5:04 am
A photograph of Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace laureate, at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. In 2009, he was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to 11 years in prison.Credit Espen Rasmussen for The New York Times
For them, pens and laptops are the tools of their trade and their megaphones to the world. Among their ranks are some of the best-known chroniclers of American society and creators of fantasy worlds. Now, these 44 writers and public intellectuals have issued a strongly worded open letter to President Xi Jinping of China that calls on him to free all Chinese writers, scholars and intellectuals who have been imprisoned for their political views.
Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, remains under house arrest in Beijing.Credit Nir Elias/Reuters
The 44, most of whom live in the United States, have given their names to a letter that PEN American Center drafted and published online on Friday that asks for the prisoners’ release as Mr. Xi prepares for his first state visit to the United States. The letter cites Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, and his wife, Liu Xia, who is under house arrest; Ilham Tohti, an ethnic Uighur and an economics professor; and Gao Yu, an ailing 71-year-old journalist.
The signers of the letter tell Mr. Xi that they “write to express our deepest concern about the deteriorating state of free expression in China.”
In 2014, Ilham Tohti, an ethnic Uighur and an economist, was charged with separatism and sentenced to life in prison.Credit Andy Wong/Associated Press
Many people, including Chinese readers, will recognize some of the names. They include the writers Neil Gaiman, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Susan Orlean, Ian McEwan, Paul Auster and Art Spiegelman. Chinese-born novelists are present, too — Ha Jin and Xiaolu Guo. There are also scholars of China and Tibet who have been outspoken in their defense of free speech, among them the professors Andrew Nathan and Elliot Sperling, both of whom have been banned from entering China by the government.
The letter says that the four incarcerated Chinese mentioned above and “countless others highlight the harsh punishments faced by writers who voice views that the government finds objectionable. The imprisonment of writers and journalists damages China’s image abroad and undercuts its ambition to be a strong and respected partner on the world stage.”
Gao Yu, a journalist accused of leaking state secrets, was sentenced to seven years in prison in April 2015.Credit Kin Cheung/Associated Press
In emailed comments, Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN American Center, which is based in New York, wrote: “During a visit to the U.S. that is expected to be a star turn for Xi Jinping on the world stage with 21-gun salutes, toasts and photo ops, audiences need to be reminded to see this government for what it is — intolerant of dissent and cruel toward those who challenge the enforced ideology.”
“While there was anticipation early on that Xi Jinping might be a reformer who would nudge China forward toward a more modern and open system, those hopes have been dashed with writers and journalists in China reporting that speaking your mind is more dangerous under Xi than at any point in recent memory,” she added. “While the world is wowed by Chinese costume exhibits and contemporary art, as a creative community we see a dark side watching our colleagues intimidated, silenced and jailed for saying and writing what they think.”
Following is the text of the letter, with the names of the signatories:
September 18, 2015
His Excellency Mr. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
Zhongnanhai, Xichengqu
Beijing
The People’s Republic of China
Your Excellency,
As you undertake your first state visit to the United States, we the undersigned, as journalists, writers, and free expression advocates affiliated with PEN American Center, a leading cultural organization, write to express our deepest concern about the deteriorating state of free expression in China.
We are particularly concerned about the plight of our colleagues, many of whom face severe consequences for exercising their right to express their opinions and pursue their creativity. We have documented cases of at least 47 writers and journalists currently imprisoned in China. The average sentence for a writer is eight years in prison, and some sentences are even harsher. Ilham Tohti, a Uighur scholar and blogger, was sentenced on September 23, 2014 to life in prison for voicing his views online about the treatment of Uighurs.
Earlier this year, Gao Yu, an investigative journalist, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Ms. Gao, 71 years old, remains in ill health in prison, and is not receiving the medical care she needs. We urge China to adhere to international covenants to which it is a signatory that require state authorities to refrain from denying or limiting equal access to healthcare for all persons, including prisoners and detainees.
As you know, former Independent Chinese PEN Center president Liu Xiaobo, a literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist, was sentenced to an 11-year prison term and two years’ deprivation of political rights on December 25, 2009 for calling for political reforms. His wife, Liu Xia, who is a painter, poet, and photographer, has been under house arrest for nearly five years even though she has not been accused of a crime; your government has not even acknowledged her detention.
These four cases and countless others highlight the harsh punishments faced by writers who voice views that the government finds objectionable. The imprisonment of writers and journalists damages China’s image abroad and undercuts its ambition to be a strong and respected partner on the world stage. So too does broad official censorship of literature, the news media, and the internet and telecommunications technologies, as it prevents Chinese citizens from accessing accurate news and information that is in the public interest, and stifles the creativity and diversity of viewpoints that are essential to building a dynamic and competitive economy and culture.
To that end, Mr. President, we urge you to release the Chinese writers and journalists who are languishing in jail for the crime of expressing their opinions, and to take immediate steps to defend and protect the rights of all Chinese citizens to communicate and access information freely.
Sincerely,
Paul Auster
Russell Banks
Louis Begley
Margaret Carson
Ron Chernow
Teju Cole
Martha Cooley
Molly Crabapple
Siddhartha Deb
Ariel Dorfman
Jennifer Egan
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jonathan Franzen
Neil Gaiman
Barbara Goldsmith
Xiaolu Guo
Ha Jin
Amy Hempel
Siri Hustvedt
Amitava Kumar
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
Pablo Medina
Dinaw Mengestu
Ian McEwan
Jay McInerney
Azar Nafisi
Andrew Nathan
Suzanne Nossel
Susan Orlean
Katherine Paterson
Michael Pietsch
Francine Prose
Victoria Redel
Norman Rush
Douglas Rushkoff
Michael Scammell
Dava Sobel
Andrew Solomon
Elliot Sperling
Art Spiegelman
Rob Spillman
Fred Tomaselli
Jacob Weisberg
Alex Zucker
