http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/14/han-han-world-s-most-popular-blogger.html
Han Han, the enfant terrible of Chinese letters, makes enemies as he conquers the world literature stage. Plus, read an excerptof Han Han's new book, shouldn’t blame young people for China’s problems, he argues, since the young are really powerless. “The damage caused by abuses of power cannot be their fault,” he writes. “Don’t try to use the younger generation’s baby hair as toilet paper.”
EXCERPT- Read Han Han's Essay on Defining His Generation from His New Book
The Internet is still fraught territory in China. Government censors have deleted Han’s posts, and conservative critics have publicly accused him of plagiarism, bigamy, and even lying about his height. Han describes such verbal violence as a remnant of the Cultural Revolution. In China, he says, “there’s no tradition for debate. People think if your position is different, they should try to destroy you.” Recently, though, he has also fallen out with liberals who have denounced him for suggesting democracy won’t solve all China’s problems. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, once a fan, said Han’s comments were “biased” and “degraded” and indicated that the writer had “surrendered” to authorities.
'This Generation' by Han Han. 288 pp. Simon & Schuster. $24. Han, for his part, says in fact he worries that ordinary people do not care enough about others’ rights to build a real democracy. “To me democracy often means compromise,” he explains. “We need more generosity, a more inclusive approach.”
Still, he remains hopeful, if pragmatic, about achieving a more open society. “In the end, we will get a better future,” he says. “It may not be like Taiwan or the U.S. or the U.K., but I’ll be able to write more freely without fear of being deleted or punished. I believe we will see the dawn of this era within 10 years.”
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