REPENT! On your deathbed

Interesting story out of China today, gang! Zeng Li, a "content examiner" for the progressive (not sure what that actually means in China, but..) newspaper Southern Week

end, died at the age of 61, three days after retiring from his post. 

I can only find history of him holding this censoring position since 2008 and, apparently, Chinese censorship has increased quite a bit in the past few years. The circumstances of his retirement are a bit cloudy, but he did write a "confessional" letter upon giving up his post at the end of March. 

He stated he "woke up" and did not want to be painted as a "sinner against history". Just when he woke up seems fairly clear, as the Southern Weekend staff went on strike in January, protesting a complete re-write of their NewYears greeting. Their original draft "advocated constitutionalism and respect for rule of law" Pretty innocuous stuff, amirite?

Supposedly, Li was not involved in the re-write, which is odd, considering he was described as a buffer between the various departments of censorship and the newspaper. But he obviously had a massive amount of guilt over his role, judging by his letter. On his blog, he claimed to have outed the identity of the person who forced the re-write, but, I mean, the damage was already done and he was still complicit in the act. 

Conspiracy theories abound, considering he died literally 3 days after retiring, at a fairly young age. Many young members of China's Communist party openly admit to joining solely to advance their own careers. Desperate times, eh? Openly sacrifice yourself, your morality, and your decency in the hopes of a better life for you. What a horrible idea that is. 

We are incredibly fortunate to live in a country where free expression is not only welcome, but encouraged and this story only reenforces that ideal. If our governments were to suddenly clamp down on all anti-government rhetoric, 90% of the people on Facebook would be in forced labour camps, enjoying the outdoors and working themselves into the grave. 

So let's raise a glass to Zeng Li, for at least saying something incredibly powerful, even if it cost him his life.

It’s like a boundless dream here in this
world, nothing anywhere to trouble us.

I have, therefore, been drunk all day,
a shambles of sleep on the front porch.

Coming to, I look into the courtyard.
There’s a bird among blossoms calling,

and when I ask what season this is,
an oriole’s voice drifts on spring winds.

Overcome, verging on sorrow and lament,
I pour another drink. Soon, awaiting

this bright moon, I’m chanting a song.
And now it’s over, I’ve forgotten why.

- Li Bai, c.720, China 

(Thanks to the Economist and Laphams Quarterly for references, inspiration & quotes.)