This is from Xinhua today: “China will publish “The Piano Teacher” by Elfriede Jelinek, recently named the winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in literature, in simplified Chinese characters within a month, according to Beijing October Art Publishing House on Saturday. ”

Reading this, I cannot help to recall how differently Chinese government, through Xinhua or People’s Daily, responded to the winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in literature, Chinese writer Gao Xingjian. Gao’s books are still banned in China, although one can often find them through “underground publishing channels.”