While the growth of the internet in China did not bring with it sweeping political reforms as some in the West might have hoped, for Liu it was transformative. Given a window to reach 500 million readers, Liu could live off his writing for the first time, and Liu found the internet offered a powerful… Read more »
After losing the bid for the 2000 Games by just two votes, China won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games in a landslide. Joyful crowds flocked into Tiananmen Square, and the government celebrated a new symbol of China’s arrival on the global scene. But unrest in Tibet shook China’s preparations, and violence dogged… Read more »
In 2006, a brand of watered-down neo-Confucianism took root in China, popularized especially by Beijing Normal University Professor Yu Dan. Liu took particular exception to this “sales pitch that combines tall tales about the ancients with insights that are about as sophisticated as the lyrics of pop songs.”