TWO VOICES: Perry Link, China Specialist and Translator of Nobel Winner Liu Xiaobo

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On January 26, translator and China scholar Perry Link joined the Center, the Asia Society, and the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco for a discussion on imprisoned Chinese activist and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo’s No Enemies, No Hatred, a collection of his political essays and poetry. In his role as translator, editor, and scholar, Link reviewed the process of publishing the collection, Liu’s literary background and career as writer and activist, and both the personal and political influences of his development into one of China’s most notorious and celebrated “dissidents.”

Link begins with a portrait of Liu as an independent thinker out of necessity; he was pulled from school along with a generation of young people during the Cultural Revolution, and any education he received was self-motivated. He repeatedly references Liu’s wide intellect—gathered during years of autodidactic study. For instance, talking about the idea of the Dalai Lama becoming prime minister of China—which Liu compares to Barack Obama becoming America’s first black president—Link says, “he takes an idea that sounds like it’s from the other side of Pluto and makes it sound reasonable.”

Liu began as a literature student and was a controversial writer from his first publication, which was a master’s dissertation on literary freedom. In the mid 1980s, he commented on the repressive culture in which writers were expected to create, saying “I can sum up what’s wrong with Chinese writers . . . their lives don’t belong to them.” Link notes Liu’s early observations as clear pathways toward his later role as an activist.

Going essay by essay, Link covers Liu’s politicization; he cites his first trips abroad and his choice to return to China and take a role in the Tiananmen protests as the “two major events” of his political life. Link also gives an idea of Liu’s political development: by 1989 he had grown disillusioned with the idea of using Western culture and politics as a guide for China’s development. He grew into an honest critic of the Chinese government and advocate for people-powered reform, with an ultimate goal of regime change.

In discussing an essay on the Internet, “God’s gift to the Chinese people,” and its ability to empower citizens by providing anonymity, Link notes Liu’s observation that the Communist Party has never been up against a form of communication that it cannot control. With a personal aside, Link expresses his own opinions on the growing fragility of the Chinese government in its increased paranoia and inability to control collective unrest.

Other essay topics include free speech, a theme central to the Liu-composed declaration of Chinese human rights, Charter ’08, child labor, political humor, Tibetan autonomy, forced land evictions, government corruption and collusion with criminal activity, and a general departure from socialism in all forms aside from repressive and powerful ideology.

Link closes with a discussion of Liu’s poetry; the section for No Enemies, No Hatred was primarily compiled and edited by Liu’s wife, Liu Xia. The section takes an intimate look at Liu Xiaobo’s three stays in prison, where the majority of the poems were written. He has addressed each poem to his wife, expressing both love and a deep gratitude for their “intellectual partnership.” This section of Link’s talk highlight the depths of Liu Xiaobo’s dedication to humanistic thought and an optimistic, forward thinking vision for a more democratic China.