When Chinese censors axed a novella about steamy sex in the People’s Liberation Army, it was the timing of its appearance earlier this year that proved most crucial in effecting the ban.
Serve the People, written by award-winning writer Yan Lianke, premiered on China’s literary scene just weeks before Beijing unveiled a new anti-secession law that threatens the use of military force against Taiwan should the island’s leaders go too far in their quest for independence.