MCLC: Mo Yan says censorship necessary (1)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: James Keefer <jamesrk at shaw.ca>
Subject: Mo Yan says censorship necessary (1)
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Source: The Guardian (12/6/12):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/07/mo-yan-censorship-nobel

Censorship is a must, says China's Nobel winnerMo Yan, who has won this
year's Nobel Prize in literature, says censorship is as necessary as
checks at airport security
By Associated Press in Stockholm

This year's Nobel prize in literature winner, Mo Yan, who has been
cticised for his membership in China's Communist party and reluctance to
speak out against the country's government, has defended censorship as
something as necessary as airport security checks.

He also suggested he won't join an appeal calling for the release of the
jailed 2010 Peace prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo, a fellow writer and
compatriot.

Mo has been criticised by human rights activists for not being a more
outspoken defender of freedom of speech and for supporting the Communist
party-backed writers' association, of which he is vice-president.

His comments on Thursday, made during a news conference in Stockholm,
appear unlikely to soften his critics' views toward him.

Awarding him the literature prize has also brought criticism from previous
winners. Herta Mueller, the 2009 literature laureate, called the jury's
choice of Mo a "catastrophe" in an interview with the Swedish daily Dagens
Nyheter last month. She also accused Mo of protecting the Asian country's
censorship laws.

China's rulers forbid opposition parties and maintain strict control over
all media.

Mo said he doesn't feel that censorship should stand in the way of truth
but that any defamation, or rumours, "should be censored."

"But I also hope that censorship, per se, should have the highest
principle," he said in comments translated by an interpreter from Chinese
into English.

Mo is spending several days in Stockholm before receiving his prestigious
prize in an awards ceremony next Monday.

He won the Nobel for his sprawling tales of life in rural China. In its
citation, the jury said Mo "with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales,
history and the contemporary".

In addressing the sensitive issue of censorship in China, Mo likened it to
the thorough security procedures he was subjected to as he traveled to
Stockholm.

"When I was taking my flight, going through the customs ... they also
wanted to check me even taking off my belt and shoes," he said. "But I
think these checks are necessary."

Mo also dodged questions about Liu Xiaobo, the jailed Peace prize winner.
Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for co-authoring a bold
call for ending China's single-party rule and enacting democratic reforms.

China's reception of the two Nobel laureates has been worlds apart. While
it rejected the honour bestowed on Liu, calling it a desecration of the
Nobel tradition, it welcomed Mo's win with open arms, saying it reflected
"the prosperity and progress of Chinese literature, as well as the
increasing influence of China."

Although Mo has previously said he hopes Liu will be freed soon, he
refused to elaborate more on the case.

"On the same evening of my winning the prize, I already expressed my
opinion, and you can get online to make a search," he said, telling the
crowd that he hoped they wouldn't press him on the subject of Liu.

Some, however, have interpreted Mo's October comments as if he hoped the
release of Liu would make the jailed activist see sense and embrace the
Communist party line.

Earlier this week, an appeal signed by 134 Nobel laureates, from Peace
prize-winners such as South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu to
Taiwanese-American chemist Yuan T Lee, called the detention of Liu and his
wife a violation of international law and urged their immediate release.

But Mo suggested he had no plans of adding his name to that petition. "I
have always been independent. I like it that way. When someone forces me
to do something I don't do it," he said, adding that has been in his
stance in the past decade.

Mo is to receive his Nobel prize along with the winners in medicine,
physics, chemistry and economics.

The Nobel peace prize is handed out in a separate ceremony in Oslo on the
same day.