“The Responsibility of Intellect”

Jiayang Fan: Do you think that Western countries should put additional pressure on China?

Liao Yiwu: These politicians shouldn’t spend all their time just making statements and playing golf. They should understand China’s history better, understand what really happened and not just naively go about things in yet another negative way. You have to have a deep understanding of China’s history and present state. This ties into the responsibility of intellectuals. They should make time to read some books even if it’s just one or two a year. Like books about prison in China. Maybe if they read just one or two—it wouldn’t be so terrible.