China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao

China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao (Chinese: 中国影帝温家宝) is a book published by Chinese dissident author Yu Jie on August 16 in Hong Kong.[1][2] The book is "a scathing critique" of China's premier Wen Jiabao,[3] arguing that Wen's warm, empathic public persona was simply a facade, and that he shared the same goals of other Chinese leaders.[4] It includes sections such as "How the myth of Wen Jiabao was created?" and "Skeptical view of online conversation between Wen Jiabao and netizens". Yu Jie wanted to use this book to "give a wake up call to all people who have fantasy on Wen Jiabao".

China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao
First edition
AuthorYu Jie
Original title中国影帝温家宝
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
PublisherNew Century Press (新世紀出版社), Hongkong
Pages388
ISBN978-988-19-4302-6

Because Yu's books had been banned in mainland China due to his dissident politics, he published China's Best Actor in Hong Kong.[5] He was detained by security officials in July 2010 to discuss the upcoming publication.[5] According to Yu, one official stated that his book was "harming state security and the national interest", and if it were published, Yu would probably be imprisoned "for many years".[5] Yu nonetheless proceeded with publication of the book in August.[4]

On 8 October 2010, Yu's good friend Liu Xiaobo was named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. On 13 October, Yu was placed under house arrest, allegedly for his plans to write a biography of Liu as well as for having proceeded with the publication of China's Best Actor.[3] He later wrote that during this period, "I was tortured by the country’s secret police and nearly lost my life".[6] According to Yu, he was stripped naked, burned with cigarettes, and beaten until he was hospitalized.[7]

His house arrest, and a concomitant travel ban, lasted until January 2012, at which point he and his family emigrated to the US.[3]

References
  1. "China Seeks to Halt Book That Faults Its Prime Minister". The New York Times. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  2. "Book by Chinese dissident brands Wen Jiabao a 'fraud'". The Daily Telegraph. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. Edward Wong (January 18, 2012). "China: Dissident Author Flees to U.S." The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  4. "Book critical of Chinese PM Wen Jiabao goes on sale". BBC News. 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  5. Michael Wines (6 July 2010). "China Seeks to Halt Book That Faults Its Prime Minister". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  6. Yu Jie (February 13, 2012). "The myth of China as a harmless tiger". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  7. William Wan (January 18, 2012). "Chinese dissident details alleged torture". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
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