Dissident Chinese writer brands Mo Yan a 'state poet'
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Dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu, who lives in Germany, on Saturday savaged China's Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan as a "state poet", close to the communist regime. -- PHOTO: AP
BERLIN (AFP) - Dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu, who lives in Germany, on Saturday savaged China's Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan as a "state poet", close to the communist regime.
"I was shocked," Liao told German news magazine Der Spiegel, according to excerpts from an interview published on Saturday.
Mo Yan is "a state poet (who) withdraws to his world of craftsmanhip whenever necessary," added Liao who will receive the peace prize of Germany's book trade during a ceremony in Frankfurt on Sunday.
Mo Yan has been on the defensive against activists who accuse him of being a communist stooge, amid an outpouring of praise from the government in Beijing.
