In this week’s Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, Sam Ratner takes a deep dive into new research on what happens when Chinese political prisoners make an appeal to an international audience.
China and others boycott Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
An explanation of the pranksterish wordplay in Ai Weiwei’s take on Gangnam Style. And a conversation with the translator of Liu Xiaobo’s Tiananmen poems.
Liu Xiaobo Commemorates Tiananmen with ‘June Fourth Elegies’
Poet Liu Xiaobo wrote a series of poems in the 20 years following the 1989 crackdown. His book, “June Fourth Elegies,” has been translated into English by Jeffrey Yang.
Elephant in the tea room: China’s human rights record
Chinese-American human rights activist and former political prisoner Dr. Sasha Gong was a political prisoner in the 1970s. She says she’d like to ask President Hu about human rights.
We talk about Liu and his work with Andrew Nathan, professor of political science at Columbia University, who sponsored Liu’s travel to New York. We also speak with Carroll Bogert, associate director at Human Rights Watch.
Chinese dissidents celebrate Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Peace Prize
We continue our coverage of Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese dissident who was announced this morning as the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. To learn more about Liu, we speak with a man who has known him for over 20 years.
