Chinese Regime’s Latest Attempt to Censor the Rest of the World, Too

If you happen to be a writer, and if your latest work happens to mention the persecution of Falun Gong in China, don’t use a Chinese printing company.  Chances are they’ll either censor your words, or they won’t print it.

That’s what happened to Australian novelist L.A. Larkin according to the Sydney Morning Herald.  Larkin’s latest thriller, Thirst, was about to be published in condensed form by Reader’s Digest when, out of the blue, the printer halted production.

Larkin received a phone call on March 24 from Reader’s Digest informing her that the printing company in China was refusing to print her novel unless she removed all mentions of the Chinese regime’s torture of Falun Gong pracititioners, the Epoch Times reported.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.  Since these principles don’t quite agree with the Chinese Communist Party, the regime has been trying and failing to eradicate the practice for over fourteen years.

Of course, the regime thinks it’s better if the rest of the world doesn’t hear about this.

Larkin’s book was to be published in the Reader’s Digest in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, and Malaysia, according to the Epoch Times.  It wasn’t even going to the Chinese market, but the Chinese printer didn’t want it exposing the truth anywhere.

“If I had gone ahead and changed my work just so I can get a book out there I would have been betraying myself and what I believe in, I would have been betraying the characters in the book and I’d have been betraying my readers who read me because I touch on those issues,” Larkin told the Sydney Morning Herald.

She refused to take out the mentions of Falun Gong, so Reader’s Digest didn’t publish her book.  They could have found a more cooperative printer elsewhere, but it would have been too expensive, the Herald reported.

One of the characters in Larkin’s novel is a Chinese-Australian woman whose mother was tortured in China for practicing Falun Gong, according to the Epoch Times.  After the story was censored, writers all over the world expressed support for Larkin on social media.  

Sources: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/598785-chinese-censors-twist-arm-of-readers-digest/

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/readers-digest-drawn-into-chinese-censorship-row-over-australian-novelist-la-larkin-20140402-35xi6.html