Introduction

This Issue’s Contributors

Liu Xianbin—Democracy Activist

• About Liu Xianbin
• Liu Xianbin: A Chronology
• To Live and Fight as a Person or a Citizen!—Trial Statement by Liu Xianbin
  Liu asks a court that was about to sentence him to 10 years for “inciting subversion of state power” for one thing: that the Chinese government allow its people to live as persons and citizens.
• Together and Apart: My Life with Liu Xianbin—Dedicated to the Wives of all Dissidents
  In her narrative, Chen Mingxian demonstrates the strength required to live a life in which freedom is an extravagance and a 17-year marriage is dominated by the absence of a husband.

Tan Zuoren—Environmental Activist

• About Tan Zuoren
• Tan Zuoren: A Chronology
• 1989: Bearing Witness to the Ultimate Beauty—Diary of an Eyewitness in the Square
  Through his personal story, Tan Zuoren provides his panoramic view of a city where the two extremes of humanity—good and evil—converge at a painful moment in Chinese history.

Qi Chonghuai—Journalist

• About Qi Chonghuai
• Qi Chonghuai: A Chronology
• In Defense of a Free Press: Remembering Imprisoned Journalist Qi Chonghuai on World Press Freedom Day
  Qi’s lawyer, Li Xiongbing, traces Qi’s prosecution where twisted logic and a compliant judiciary allow bribers to successfully claim themselves as victims of extortion.
• The Tragic Existence of Tengzhou Prison Inmates
  Qi describes work in the prison-run coal mine—labor so crushing that for some, the only way out is suicide.
• Surviving an Assassination Attempt in Prison
  After prison guards confiscate Qi’s prison writings, a hit man is sent to silence him in a mine shaft 130 meters underground.

Wang Lihong—Rights Defender

• About Wang Lihong
• Wang Lihong: A Chronology
• “So Free, So Rich, So Beautiful!”—Missing Wang Lihong
  Ai Xiaoming tells the story of Wang Lihong, whose tireless fight for justice has earned her the sobriquet of “Older Sister” among rights defenders, but also landed her in jail.

Yang Chunlin—Land Rights Activist

• About Yang Chunlin
• Yang Chunlin: A Chronology
• A Blind Man Thinks and Sees Things More Clearly than Chinese Professors
  Yang (as Wei Houren) scrutinizes China’s educated elite for staying silent in the face of suffering and asserts that when China’s professors betray their conscience, it takes a blind man to see right from wrong.

Guo Quan—Opposition Party Organizer

• About Guo Quan
• Guo Quan: A Chronology
• The Emperor and Officials in Andersen’s Fable Are 100 Times More Appealing than the CPC
  The rising price of spicy beef prompts Guo to compare the fate of the truth-telling child in Andersen’s tale and that of truth-tellers in China.

Book Review

• My Life in Prison: Memoirs of a Chinese Political Dissident by Jiang Qisheng
  A review by Jonathan Mirsky.