Murong Xuecun was one of the brightest stars of
China's literary scene, his
novels offering searing critiques of contemporary social issues that few other
writers dared to imitate.
اضافة اعلان
But after a decade of diminishing freedom of speech under President Xi
Jinping, he could not publish in his own country and was eventually forced into
exile.
His fate mirrors that of many liberal Chinese intellectuals who tried to
shine a light on the system and then fled abroad, were imprisoned or fell
silent.
The 48-year-old writer, whose real name is Hao Qun, left China in August
last year after writing "Deadly Quiet City", a non-fiction account of
the 2020 Wuhan coronavirus lockdown released in March.
His Australian publisher believed he would "definitely get
arrested" after the book's release, Murong told AFP from his home in
Melbourne.
"They urged me to leave immediately."
Murong got to Wuhan in April 2020, taking huge risks to interview the
relatives of people lost to a mysterious and deadly virus ravaging the city,
and residents who faced food and medical shortages because of the lockdown.
Independent citizen journalists who reported on conditions in Wuhan were
later imprisoned, while state propaganda spun the lockdown as a triumph.
"I received constant phone calls from state security trying to harass
and threaten me," he said.
"I was terrified throughout the whole process. When I started writing,
(citizen journalist) Zhang Zhan was arrested. Twenty days before, I had
conducted a very detailed interview with her."
Fearing imminent arrest, Murong sent each page as he wrote it to a
friend overseas using encryption software, before deleting it from his
computer.
"I told my friend: 'No matter what happens to me, this book must be
published.'"
- Changing climate
-
Murong became an overnight sensation when his first novel was serialised
online in 2002, winning plaudits for its gritty portrayal of urban life with
nihilistic characters who pursue drink, sex and drugs.
The relatively permissive climate of the 2000s under former leader Hu Jintao
was also a time when raucous social media debate and independent media
blossomed.
More Chinese writers gained international acclaim, with Mo Yan winning the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012.
Online and in print, a multitude of voices flourished –- although publishers
played a delicate balancing act with censors.
But when Xi came to power, voices calling for social change were muzzled, as
he sought to eliminate any threats to the Communist Party.
One by one, Murong's friends -- formerly outspoken journalists,
intellectuals and writers -- were arrested or fell silent.
"Just because they did or said something the Communist Party doesn't
like, the regime threw them in jail," he said.
Murong himself was summoned to a Beijing police station in 2019 for
retweeting a Xi cartoon three years prior.
Cultural censorship increased exponentially under Xi, with even tattoos and
earrings worn by men blurred out on television, as the Communist Party sought
to emphasise what it deems "healthy" social values.
Now films, TV series and musical works are abruptly pulled if they cross
undefined political red lines.
Primary school curriculums contain textbooks on "Xi Jinping
Thought".
Murong's account on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform once boasted more
than 1 million followers. It was banned in 2013.
Work slowly dried up.
"Although I call myself a writer, it was almost impossible for me to
publish essays or books. All I could do was be an anonymous screenwriter,"
he said.
As Xi prepares to secure a norm-breaking third term at October's party
congress, Murong likens the current situation to the Cultural Revolution under
Mao Zedong -- Communist China's founder -- when fervent mass campaigns
mobilised against imaginary social threats.
"China is very likely to become like it was in the Mao era, a country
where nobody dares to speak out openly," he said.
"Perhaps only when the Communist Party's censorship and oppression are
gone can China's literature and arts truly flourish."
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