The New York Times has published a piece about the important book published last year, “An Investigation of China’s Peasantry” (Zhongguo Nongmin Diaocha), which was banned for revealing too much about the plight of China’s underclass. The authors are now being sued for libel.
One of the authors, Chen Guidi, is quoted as saying: “We spoke up for powerless people, but we ourselves are powerless before these officials…The authorities will not allow peasants to have a voice.”