Liu Xiaobo | The Downfall of a Great Power – A Memorandum to China

When the book was published in 2010, Liu Xiaobo himself had already been sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Beijing authorities on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”.

Yu Jie, a well-known writer and close friend of Liu Xiaobo, pointed out in another preface written for the book: “Originally, no one wanted to subvert their regime at all, but they were in a state of constant fear and anxiety: you are trying to collect the names of the students who died in the Sichuan earthquake, which is suspected of ‘subverting state power’; you are trying to provide legal assistance to the parents of children who died from toxic milk powder, which is suspected of ‘subverting state power’; you are trying to help the farmers who contracted AIDS from selling blood to get an ‘explanation’, which is suspected of ‘subverting state power’; you are trying to expose the tragic stories of countless mothers being forced to have abortions by family planning personnel, which is suspected of ‘subverting state power’. How can this country, this regime, be so fragile, like a paper house?”