The New York Times’ Edward Wong talks to writer Yu Jie, who left China for the United States last month, about the experiences that drove him to leave, his Christian faith and his plans for the future.
… He began thinking about leaving last spring, and got permission last month, he said. Officials probably believed it would be better to have him outside China in this transition year, Mr. Yu said. Officers accompanied him, his wife, Liu Min, and their son, Yu Guangyi, to the Beijing airport boarding gate and took their picture.
And how will he remain relevant while outside China? Mr. Yu said he believed the Internet would help. He has a Twitter account, @yujie89, with nearly [now over] 30,000 followers. (He said he preferred not to use Chinese microblogs because of censorship.)
Mr. Yu said his immediate goals were to apply for asylum and finish the two books due this year. Then he plans to work on a book about the history of Christianity in China.
“Maybe in a couple years I’ll have a green card, and maybe I’ll become an American citizen,” he said. “But I see my career and lifelong goal as achieving democracy and freedom in China. And so my goal is to eventually return to China.”
See more on Yu Jie via CDT, including his 2010 account of “drinking tea” with State Security, news of his move to the US, and a Global Times response insisting that “[Yu’s] personal feelings do not conform with the overwhelming majority of people in China.”
