Last week, Chinese novelist Yu Jie was taken into custody and interrogated by the State Security Bureau after announcing that he would soon be publishing a book, titled China’s Best Actor: Wen Jiabao, about China’s premier. After his release, Yu insisted that he would continue to pursue publication of the book, even though the authorities threatened to give him a long prison sentence like that given to his mentor and fellow writer Liu Xiaobo.
Yu also penned and posted a fascinating transcript (in Chinese) of his interrogation session with state security on the dissident blog Observe China, which has now been translated into English by the Laogai Research Foundation. Yu’s narrative of his surreal conversation with the Chinese authorities is a must read: It is simultaneously chilling, inspiring, and hilarious. He ridicules, challenges, and baits his interrogators, even as they threaten his family, friends, and church with reprisals if he continues to pursue his critical writings.
