Chris Buckley: Chinese writer tests the power of his press

From The International Herald Tribune:

When Chinese government officials confiscated 906 books that Wang Yi had privately printed to give to friends across the country, it seemed unremarkable in a country where censorship is pervasive and rarely challenged.

But for Wang, a law lecturer and writer with a reputation for trenchantly criticizing the government, the confiscation was the opening shot in a battle he plans to wage against what he calls China’s increasingly harsh suppression of reports about corruption and social problems and of discussion of political reform.

In a rare show of defiance of China’s censors, Wang is suing to have his books returned and to have the right to self-publish respected.

Wang Yi’s speech at the congress of International PEN is available here.